The Gunslingers of Dirt
by Bat13SJx
Summary: A collection of short stories of Bad Bill and his gang. Their little misadventures and growing friendships during their years in the town of Dirt.
1. Chapter 1: Fuego

**A/N: These are old short stories of Bad Bill and his gang. I was going to introduce them after my Outlaw Confidential stories, but since I'm taking so long with it, I decided to start submitting the first couple stories. Some are just random fun stories that don't really connect to the Outlaw C. fanfics, and others are. I want to try to finish O.C. before I reveal some things. So here is the first random short. These were written I think in 2014/2015.** **Enjoy**

 **Gunslingers of Dirt**

 **Fuego**

It was a cold night. Stump, Chorizo and Kinski sat around a roaring fire, roasting sausages. They started up short conversations about random things and what they may plan to steal next in the town of Dirt. Kinski flicked out his box of matches and opened it.

"Damn...down to my last match," he sighed with disappointment. Stump waved Kinski's words off. "No big deal K., we'll get another box fer ya in the mornin," he said and stuck another hotdog at the end of his stick. Kinski nodded and tossed his match box down.

After a couple minutes of silence, Stump started up another subject. "Do ya ever wonder what happens to you when you die?" he asked. Kinski silently shrugged and stared at his sausage as the flames danced around it.

Chorizo shrugged as well. "Dunno, _amigo_ … but when I was a little _nino_ , back in my town, we used to celebrate the dead. _Día de los Muertos_ …Day of the Dead we called it," he explained. Kinski and Stump's droopy ears perked up. "Day of the Dead? Really?" asked Stump, looking a bit nervous. Chorizo nodded. Kinski's eyes widened with fascination.

Suddenly an animal's howl was sound out in the distance. Stump shrieked and jumped to his feet. Kinski and Chorizo jumped a bit, but then laughed at Stump. "Shut up, you bastards," snarled Stump and sat back down. Kinski pulled his sausage out and blew it for a while. Then he sniffed it and took a bite. "I've never had vone of zese before, vhat vere zey called again?" asked Kinski.

Chorizo smirked, "Chorizos, what I'm named after, a Mexican sausage, _delicioso_ ," said Chorizo smiling and licking his lips. Kinski looked at him blankly. Every time Chorizo said a word in Spanish, he never could understand it.

"…Delicious?" the hunchback jackrabbit asked. Chorizo turned to his friend and nodded, _"Si,_ " he said. Kinski knew that word and smiled a small smile. " _Köstliche_ ," he said in German and took another bite out of his food.

Suddenly Stump looked down and gasped. "Uh Chorizo? Yer…Chorizo…?" said Stump with concern as he pointed to the shrew's flaming sausage at the end of his stick. " _Mi salchicha! fuego estúpido!_ " screamed Chorizo in Spanish as he quickly took his sausages out of the fire.

Kinski and Stump laughed. Chorizo glared at them angrily. At the end of his stick was a charred black end. Kinski kept laughing, "Hahah! Ya should've seen ze look on yer face!" laughed the hunchback jackrabbit. Chorizo growled under his breath. His eyes burned red. Stump didn't notice as he fell over and held his stomach.

When Stump and Kinski finally settled down, no one said anything. Kinski stretched his arms and then reached over to put another sausage at the end of his stick and place it into the fire. "Vhat vere you screaming?" he asked the grumpy shrew, trying to hold his laughter in. Chorizo's eyes flashed red, but couldn't be seen because of the hot red embers of the fire. He reached over and grabbed another sausage from the bag and placed it on his charred stick. He kept his mouth shut. Stump answered for him.

"He said…'My sausage! Stupid fire!'" mimicked Stump, then burst out laughing. Kinski laughed, then stopped in mid laugh when he saw Chorizo shooting him an outraged look. "Cállate, jorobado!" he snarled angrily. Kinski stared at him blankly for a minute. "Vhat did he say?" asked Kinski to Stump. Stump gave Kinski a look.

"Are ya sure you wanna ask?" he asked, "Kinda is obvious of what he wants ya to do," he said. Kinski raised his eyebrow at Stump, then turned his head to Chorizo. Chorizo cocked his head a bit and made his face even more outraged and creepy looking. Kinski looked back down at his hotdog and kept his mouth shut.

The night wind rustled through the three outlaws' furs as they sat there around the fire in silence. No one talked to each other after that. Kinski chewed his hotdog slowly, which was rare to ever see since the food he ate was usually gone in seconds. Kinski stared at the fire. Thinking. Finally he broke the silence.

"Vhat's fire in Spanish?" Kinski asked. Chorizo looked down into the fire. The flames reflected off of his pale yellow eyes. "…fuego," he said quietly. " _fuego_?" asked Kinski. Chorizo nodded. " _fuego_ ," repeated Kinski and looked down into the fire as well. Then he turned back to Chorizo. "Sorry," he muttered. Chorizo sighed and shrugged.

Kinski grinned, " _fuego estúpido_ " he said, even with a Spanish-like accent. Chorizo's lips curled up into a smile. He giggled a bit, but then burst out laughing. Stump and Kinski joined in. After the three settled down Chorizo smiled. "I guess it was pretty funny, _si_?" he asked. Stump and Kinski smiled back. Chorizo looked back at the fire.

The three outlaws were quiet for a while, then Chorizo turned to Kinski. "Kinski...whats fire in German?" he asked. Kinski thought for a moment before answering. " _Feuer,_ " he said. Chorizo smiled. " _Feuer._ " Kinski smiled back.

Stump rolled his eyes, but was somewhat jealous that he didnt have a foreign language. _All I have is a British accent...eh, the girls love it._ Stump shrugged to himself. Later on, the three fell asleep under the stars. The fire burned itself out and its' embers died away...

The End!

...

 **Well...duh, I am a single language speaking individual. I can't speak multiple languages to save my ass...but that's what Google translate is for! XD haha! lol. So, yeah, hopefully I got some of the German and Spanish phrases right. This little short was something I made up when I was asking my Spanish speaking friend in high school what things were in Spanish. (Yelling "Mi Salchicha!" was our little inside joke we started together.) Then I asked her what fire was and instantly thought of Kinski asking Chorizo that, and this was the first Stump, Kinski, and Chorizo short I made in Freshman year. Hope you liked ^w^**


	2. Chapter 2: Lucky Rabbit

**...**

 **Lucky Rabbit**

It was a hot afternoon in the Mojave desert. Kinski, Chorizo, Stump, and Bill were inside the cool, abandoned mines playing cards around an old wooden table. "Ha! I win!" said Stump excitedly as he slapped down his set of cards. The rest of the gang's eyes widened in shock. Stump laughed, sticking his tongue out as he laid his hands on the pile of money.

"Dammit!" Kinski snapped angrily and slapped his own cards down on the table. Chorizo cursed in Spanish and slapped his cards down as well. Bill growled. "You cheated!" he snapped angrily, his claws piercing the cards in his hands.

"No… I'm just a lucky rabbit," said Stump grinning. Bill glared at him suspiciously. Stump turned his eyes away and began to count the money he won. In one swift motion, the Gila Monster slapped the stumpy jackrabbit upside the head.

"Ow! What-!?" started Stump, but then gasped when his hat fell off his head. A bunch of aces fluttered from his hat and to the floor. Kinski raised his eyebrow from behind his blonde bangs.

"Lucky rabbit, eh?" The hunchbacked jackrabbit asked after he saw the cards fall out. Stump stopped rubbing his head and forced out a nervous laugh.

"Heheheheh…h-how did those g-get there?" he asked innocently. The hunchback jackrabbit, shrew, and Gila Monster growled angrily before the three lunged at the stumpy jackrabbit and got into a brawl. The table fell over and a bunch of cards and money went flying. Stump yelped and tried getting out as his friends started to beat the hell out of him.

Suddenly, the fight ended as fast as it started when a couple of loud gunshots went off. Kinski, Bill, Chorizo, and Stump instantly stopped fighting and looked over to where the gunshots came from. Across from them, was a group of tall creatures in dirty trench coats; six in all. Four were lizards, one was a fox and the other some type of rodent. The leader, who stood in front of the others, wore a black bandanna over his mouth. He pulled it down his scaly face and bared his sharp teeth. Smoke trailed out of his gun, which was raised high in the air.

Bill growled angrily and stood up. "What do ya think yer doin' 'ere?! Git out of my hideout!" he shouted. The leader lowered his gun to Bill. Bill took a step back. The leader's face remained the same. "Don't insult me, William," he said. Bill gritted his teeth. He hated it when other outlaws knew his name and called him William. Bill balled his small clawed hands into fists.

"Do ya want me to say it nicer fer ya? _Please_ git yer _ass_ out of _my_ hideout before I _kick it_!" he shouted again. Stump, Chorizo, and Kinski snickered. The leader didn't laugh as he pulled the hammer back on the gun and fired a couple bullets near their heads. Bill's men stiffened where they stood and closed their mouths. The leader sneered.

"I didn't come 'ere to kill ya's, so ya better watch it! I came 'ere, cause a certain stumpy ass jackrabbit was said to have been seen hangin' 'round here," said the leader through clenched teeth. Stump flinched and tilted his head way up to look at the leader in the eye.

"…Oh, h-hello Kris, heheheh…didn't see ya there," said the stumpy jackrabbit, laughing nervously. The leader, named Kris, glared down at Stump. "I have been huntin' yer ass down for nearly five years fer what ya did to me and my men!" he snarled angrily. Stump's eyes widened. "Hey! I-It wasn't my fault! I didn't know that the girl in the red dress was yer sister!" he said holding his hands up.

Kris' right eye twitched, "No, not _that_ last time, the _other_ last time!" he snapped. Stump blinked at Kristolf and stared at him blankly. He looked down at the ground, trying to remember. He scratched the side of his head. One of Kristolf's men tensed up, waiting impatiently. Everyone in the room didn't breathe. The atmosphere was thick and smelled of stale alcohol.

Finally, as if a rock smacked him on the head, Stump's face lit up. "Oh yeah! That time when I double crossed ya guys and left ya to rot! Wow, you guys still pissed?" he asked. In response, Kristolf's men pulled out their deadly weapons and aimed them at Stump. Stump gasped and stiffened.

"Oh," was all he said. The blades and guns barely brushed up against Stump's face. Kinski and Chorizo flinched. Bill's face didn't even flicker. Kristolf turned his head sideways to his men and lifted his hand. Instantly, his men lowered their guns. Stump relaxed and exhaled.

"Tomorrow. Noon. Yer dead" said Kristolf. Stump gulped. With that, Kristolf's men started to file out of the abandoned mines. Kristolf was the last to leave. "Don't plan on leavin' town. If ya do, my men will find you and drag yer ass to me…and I'll kill ya on the spot, no showdown to settle this thing," with that, the outlaw left.

The Abandoned Mines was quiet. No one spoke as Kinski, Chorizo, and Bill's eyes looked down at Stump. Stump just stood there. Frozen. Finally, he straightened up, and instantly started collecting his things. "Well, so long guys, I'm leavin'" he said. Chorizo's mouth dropped. "Stump! Did ya hear what senor Kris just said?!" he screamed.

Bill grunted in agreement and grabbed Kinski's box of matches. He struck one himself and lit his cigar. "Wouldn't do it. For an outlaw who can keep his men loyal and in line, I would say to believe 'im. Don't try and leave town," said the Gila Monster as he blew out a puff of smoke. Kinski sneered and grabbed his box of matches back and stuffed them into his pocket.

Stump looked down at his crate of items and sighed. "Fine, I guess you guys are right, I can't escape this. Kristolf is the kind of guy who never forgets things, and will never stop till he gets things his way." With that, the stumpy jackrabbit dropped his crate down with a loud crash and flopped face down onto his couch in sadness. The three outlaws glanced at the depressed jackrabbit one last time in grief before dispersing.

...

Night came. Bill, Chorizo and Kinski came back from town, laughing and drinking bottles of alcohol. When they came in, they noticed that Stump was still laying face down on his couch. Kinski staggered over and grabbed Stump's hat and placed it on his head. "Hey Stumpy boy! Git up!" he laughed and paraded around with Stump's hat. Stump didn't even flinch.

Bill grabbed Stump's hat from Kinski's head, just as he came skipping along towards him. "Hey! Gimmie back za hat!" Kinski laughed and staggered over to retrieve the hat. Bill held the hat away, then shoved the jackrabbit aside. Kinski collapsed to the ground and groaned in pain.

Chorizo staggered over to Stump's body. "S-Stuump?" he slurred and nudged Stump. Suddenly, Stump's head came off and thudded to the floor. The three outlaws screamed in horror. The head rolled toward Kinski, who quickly got up on his feet and moved away.

Right as it did, he noticed something was wrong. He gingerly picked it up and examined the head. He looked up at Bill and Chorizo and showed them the head. It was a fake. A round rock with bits of Stump's real hair and painted to look like his face.

Bill walked over and shoved Stump's body on the floor. The body was made of potato bags filled with straw. The three outlaws exchanged glances, then Bill snarled with rage. "Goddammit! When I git my hands on that bastard-!" he screamed, but was interrupted when a loud gunshot went off. The three flinched.

Chorizo cursed in Spanish, "Stump," he said. Bill snarled and pulled out his gun. Without further comment, he stormed out of the abandoned mines and out into the darkness. Chorizo and Kinski exchanged glances. Kinski shrugged. The two creatures were quiet for a minute, standing in the middle of the dark room.

Kinski fished out his jacks and started fumbling with them in his hands. Chorizo stared at the game in the tall hunchback jackrabbit's hands, wishing that he had something to comfort him as well. He looked down at his serape. He touched the cape like article of clothing tied around his neck. He lifted up a corner and ran his fingers across it.

Chorizo smiled a small smile and thought about his hometown, suddenly feeling homesick. His eyes narrowed and flashed red. No. He didn't. Chorizo sighed angrily and closed his eyes. He really wanted to play the guitar. It was his dream when he was young...but everything changed...His dad yelled at him and told him that he was to continue the family business: to be a butcher. To prepare meat…

Chorizo's memories were suddenly interrupted when he felt something run across his cape. He looked up and noticed Kinski running his phalanges across the material. Kinski noticed Chorizo staring at him and stopped running his furry fingers across it. Kinski was known for touching things. Kinski lowered his head. Chorizo smiled a small smile. "Its ok, _senor_ ," he said, trying to not sound scared. He still feared the hunchback rabbit. Kinski averted his eyes away and fingered his jacks again.

Just then, one of Kristolf's members, named Blade; Stump, and Bill stormed into the room. Blade threw Stump to the ground. "Yer one stupid rabbit," snarled Bill. Stump got up and brushed himself off. Chorizo and Kinski sighed with relief when they saw that Stump didn't die. Stump glared up at Blade. "Go tell yer leader that I'm sorry if I pissed you guys off fifteen years ago, ok? There I apologi-" started Stump.

"We don't want yer sappy crap! We want you dead! Kris knows how you are! Always pretending that yer all sorry and shit! you are a lyin' bastard!" Blade screamed. Stump just snorted, "you ain't that bad yerself," he said sarcastically.

Blade whipped out his knife and aimed it right at Stump's face. "I should just kill you now! Showdown or no showdown!" he screamed again. Bill, Chorizo and Kinski whipped out their guns and aimed them at Blade's head. Bill tsked Blade.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, boy, unless you think you can dodge three bullets…scratch that, eight bullets, Kinski gets a little crazy with the gun," said Bill, smirking as he turned to the hunchback. Kinski snickered with an insane look in his eye.

Blade felt all the blood drain from his face. He turned to Stump, who had a sly smirk on his face. Blade snarled angrily, but placed his knife back into his belt. "Bastard," he muttered. With that, Blade headed out the door. He stopped and turned back to Stump. "Don't ferget, noon, yer dead, and I'll make sure of it," he snapped, then he left.

Right when he left, Stump's legs gave up on him and he collapsed. "Dammit," snarled Bill as he moved out of the way. Stump collapsed to the floor. Bill grabbed him by the bandana and hoisted him up to his face and socked him. "Ow!" yelled Stump. Bill ignored him.

"You ass! What were ya thinking! You already planning on yer funeral or somethin?" Stump didn't answer him. Bill sneered, then loosened his grip on Stump's yellow bandana, making him fall. Stump rubbed his sore neck and glared up at Bill.

"If yer so pissed at me, why don't you take my place and take on Kris and his gang!" yelled Stump. "Because I didn't piss Kris off all those years ago! You did!" Bill shouted. Stump got up from the ground, gritting his teeth as he glared up at Bill. It was like watching a mouse wanting to fight a tiger. He shoved Bill, but Bill didn't flinch. Then Bill shoved the stumpy jackrabbit, which made him move backwards, crashing into Kinski and Chorizo. They instantly grabbed Stump's arms.

"Let go!" screamed Stump angrily. "No!" yelled Chorizo. Stump struggled until he gave up. He breathed heavily as he glared up at Bill again. Bill just grunted. "Go to bed, ya got a date with Kris at noon," he said and left. Stump fought with Chorizo and Kinski, but their grip was too strong. He kicked the ground angrily and gave up again.

Chorizo and Kinski exchanged glances before loosening their grip. Stump staggered over to his couch sadly and plopped down. "Go tell that black spider to git my coffin ready…I'm off to meet my Maker at noon," he muttered and went quiet. Chorizo and Kinski exchanged sad glances one last time before heading to their couches to sleep.

...

The next morning. Stump woke up. He yawned and stretched his arms. He pulled his right arm back to himself when it started to hurt. He had bruises all over his arms and face from last night. He ignored them and got up. He walked up to the crates of food and peered down in them. Moving some foods aside and picking out the ones he wanted to eat on his last morning.

Just then, Kinski appeared. Stump looked up at the tall jackrabbit. Kinski's eyes were red from little sleep and his blonde hair went everywhere. Stump felt bad for the old rabbit, even though he wasn't the one who was going to die. "Mornin,' K.," said Stump as he fished out an apple and handed it to him. Kinski's eyes looked down at the apple for a minute, then back to Stump. Stump shook the apple a bit.

"Take it," he said. Kinski didn't answer. Stump sighed and lowered the apple down. "Fine, be that way," muttered Stump as he collected his chosen food and started eating. Stump sat down at the table. Kinski was still standing up.

After a while, Stump finally looked up at the hunchback jackrabbit. " _Oi!_ Have you finally lost yer brain? Sit down! Eat! What's wrong with you? Stop scarin' me and say something!" he screamed. Finally, Kinski snapped out of his silent, zombie mode. He shuffled over to Stump and loomed over him.

He said some random things Stump couldn't understand because of his thick German accent, but he could've swore Kinski say: "I don't vant you to die, Stump," but it could've been his imagination. After Kinski was done talking in a deranged speech, a couple minutes of awkward silence followed.

Stump laughed nervously. "That's nice, K.," he said. Kinski stood there for a minute, then collapsed to the floor. Stump stared down at the face down, unconscious jackrabbit. "Figures," he said and continued eating.

Later on, Chorizo came in. " _Buenos Dias_ , St-shit!" he stopped when he nearly tripped over Kinski. "What happened to Kinski?" asked the shrew. Stump swallowed a piece of fruit. "Passed out. Drank too much…as always," he said. Chorizo nodded, then winced rubbed his head.

"Ugg…I think we all did, _amigo_ ," he said. Stump kicked a chair out for Chorizo. Chorizo, carefully walked around the unconscious jackrabbit and sat down. Stump started snickering. Chorizo turned to him. "What's up?" he asked. Stump turned to him. "Oh, just thinking what Kinski said to me before he passed out," he said. Chorizo raised an eyebrow. "And what was that, _senor_?" he asked curiously. Stump snickered again.

"Well I couldn't really understand him because of that accent of his...but I think he said he didn't want me to die," Stump laughed some more and shook his head, "ahh, Kinks says the craziest things when he's drunk," added Stump. Stump laughed some more, but then stopped when he noticed that Chorizo wasn't laughing.

"I think he really meant it," said the shrew. Stump stared at Chorizo for a minute, then snorted. "Yeah, sure," he said and finished his food. Chorizo got up from his chair. "He doesn't show it, but he does have feelings. He does care fer ya. We all do, that's what _amigos_ are for," he said. Stump swallowed his food and looked down at the table, thinking.

Then he turned his head and looked down at the unconscious hunchback jackrabbit. Kinski was dead to the world. Stump looked back up at Chorizo. Chorizo looked back at him and gave him a small pathetic smile. _They cared for me? I thought they always hated me,_ thought Stump. The stumpy jackrabbit didn't say anything as he got up and walked out of the abandoned mines, deep within his thoughts...

There was only five hours till noon, and Stump had no idea how to get out of it. He walked down the beaten path and up the dune to the stable where they kept the boar, named Jenita, and the wagon. He stopped at the stable and watched as Jenita ate her food. He reached out and ran his fingers along the boar's coarse fur.

 _How am I going to get out of this…_ He thought to himself. The boar only grunted and continued eating. Stump looked down at what Jenita was eating. Tomatoes. With the boar eating them, it sort of looked like...blood…Stump stared down at the tomatoes for a minute. Then he shook his head and sat down in the dirt.

 _Later on through the day..._

Bill was seen leaning up against the side of the entrance to their hideout, smoking a cigar. He lifted his head up and blew out a puff of smoke, just as Stump came walking back from the stable. "Hey there, Stump, ya getting' ready to meet yer fate?" teased Bill as he blew another puff of smoke into the stumpy jackrabbit's face. Stump scrunched up his face and waved the smoke away. "Oh shut up, I don't have to listen to ya," he snarled and moved on. Bill snickered, then turned to the rabbit.

"Just remember, luck is on yer side," Bill teased again and laughed. Stump curled his hands into fists, but kept walking. After a while, Stump thought what Bill just said. "Just remember, luck is on yer side." Now what did he mean by that? Stump thought about it. Of course he was referring back to yesterday when he called himself a lucky rabbit, but was caught cheating…hmmm. Maybe, just like the card game, he could cheat his way out of the showdown. A plan started to form in his head. Stump grinned evilly and chuckled. "I guess I wont be needing that coffin after all," said Stump to himself.

...

It was almost noon when the gang arrived in Dirt.

Kinski slumped down in one of the seats that sat out on one of the porches of the buildings in the town of Dirt. Kristolf wanted to move the showdown to the town, Stump agreed to it and so the whole gunslinger party had to move to the town. The hunchback jackrabbit winced and rubbed his head. He groaned loudly. Bill slapped his shoulder and told him to pipe down. Kinski gave Bill a glare before going back to rubbing his throbbing head again.

Every citizen was inside, but they looked out of their windows to watch the showdown with one of Bad Bill's men against a whole group of gunslingers that the town was somewhat familiar with. Chorizo looked over to Stump, Kristolf, and his gang. Kristolf's gang got into position as Stump calmly fumbled with his gun.

"So, which one of ya's wants to git shot first?" asked Stump with a teasing smile on his face. The gang on the other side didn't say anything as they shifted their belts and holsters around their waists. Stump shrugged and started pointing to each one. "Four…five…six…eeny…meenie…miney…moe…" started Stump.

Kristolf growled angrily as he stood in front of his men. He fingered his gun in the holster. Stupid bastard, he's gonna git it! snarled Kristolf in his head. Stump noticed Blade and waved. "Oi, Blade! You ready to kill me?" he hollered. Blade growled and touched his gun. "You have no idea," he muttered. Stump just smiled, acting like a complete idiot. Bill, Chorizo and Kinski sat in their chairs, staring at Stump.

He seems so happy to get killed, what gives? thought Bill.

Then Stump turned to his friends and waved. Chorizo and Kinski awkwardly waved back. Kristolf's gang waited patiently behind their leader. Kristolf snarled. "All right, let's git this over with, I hate havin' to waste my bullets on something' as pathetic and stupid as you; but bullets are made fer that shit, so, anything you'd like to confess before you die, boy?" asked Kristolf.

Stump thought for a moment. Then he turned to his friends. "I used yer hat to throw up in it that one night we decided to drink all that moonshine, Bill," said Stump. Kinski, Chorizo, and Kristolf's gang laughed. Bill jumped up out of his seat. "What?! I'll kill you!" he screamed as he got out his gun.

"Hey! No! I called killin' him first!" shouted Kristolf. Stump only smiled. Bill growled and sat back down. Kinski stopped rubbing his head and lifted his head up to Stump. Something wasn't right. He turned to Chorizo and gave him a bewildered look. Chorizo just shrugged. He was baffled too. Finally, everyone calmed down and stood in their killing positions. Stump's stubby arms hovered over his guns. Kristolf snarled as he glared at the stumpy jackrabbit. Blade's fingers lightly brushed over his guns.

Stump glared back at all the gunslingers. This plan better work, he thought to himself. Suddenly, at lightning speed, Kristolf whipped out his guns and shot Stump. Stump didn't have time to react, just as the bullets shot him in the chest and knocked him backwards.

Kinski heard excited murmurs from the citizens from inside. He whipped around and snarled right at the windows that were behind him. The citizens inside jolted and screamed at the hunchback jackrabbit's face and moved away. Kinski sneered and sat back down. As he did, he noticed that Stump was still standing up.

Just then, more bullets went off. Kristolf and his gang pumped Stump full of lead, as they did, his shirt was torn open and red stuff came tumbling out. Bill winced in disgust. Chorizo held his mouth to keep from throwing up. Kinski's eyes went wide with horror. Stump collapsed. The sounds of clicks from Kristolf and his gang's empty guns filled the stale air. They stopped and lowered their guns.

Kristolf stared at Stump's body. That seemed all too easy... and strange he thought as he slowly approached the jackrabbit. Everyone held their breaths. Kristolf squatted down. He stared at the blood for a minute before running his index finger across the blood and tasting it. Kinski made a disgusted face. Kristolf's eyes widened.

"Tomatoes?!" he screamed. Stump's head lifted up, startling Kristolf. Stump held his gun and had an evil grin on his face.

"Gotcha."

 _Bang!_

Kristolf gasped and fell over. He clutched his chest and bled to death. Kristolf's gang gasped and scattered. Stump laughed as he got up and started shooting the running gang members. Kinski, Chorizo and Bill's eyes widened in shock. Every citizen inside gasped in horror.

Bill, Chorizo, and Kinski exchanged glances, shrugged then jumped over the porch fence and helped Stump shoot the scattering gang members.

After that was over, they came up to Stump. "You bastard!" snarled Bill and tried punching him in the gut. "Ow!" he screamed and retracted his hand back.

Stump smirked and revealed a thick piece of metal underneath his shirt and a couple tomatoes. Kinski and Chorizo's faces gave Stump a smug look. "Job vell done," said Kinski. "Bravo, yer one lucky conejo," agreed Chorizo. Stump bowed. Bill slapped Stump upside the head. "Ow," the jackrabbit muttered angrily and rubbed the side of his head.

The End!

...


	3. Chapter 3: Berky

**Berky**

 **...**

Kinski woke up to the sound of barking. He slowly sat upright and opened his eyes. "Vha-?" he started, but was interrupted when he felt something heavy land on his lap and his face suddenly being licked. He gasped and moved his head away as he stared at the creature on his lap in surprise.

It was a dog.

It had shaggy gold colored fur and floppy ears. The dog barked at Kinski happily and gave him another wet lick on his face. Kinski shoved the dog off him. "Git off!" he snarled. The dog jumped off and barked again. Stump and Chorizo came in and grabbed the dog. "Sorry, K.," said Stump as he wrapped his arms around the dog's waist to keep it from going anywhere else.

Kinski narrowed his eyes at the dog. "Vhat is zis mutt doin' ere?" he asked.

Chorizo moved his head away from the dog's head so he wouldn't get slobbered on. "We found it outside the mines. We think it ran away from its' owners-" "Zen go give 'im back!" shouted Kinski. Stump and Chorizo both looked up at Kinski in surprise.

"What's wrong Kinski? Its just a dog-" "I know zat! jus git it out of my sight!" he shouted as he got up from his couch and loomed over them. His teeth were clenched and his hands were balled up at his sides. Stump exchanged a nervous glance over to Chorizo.

Silently, they led the dog to outside. "Go home. Go," said Stump as he tried shooing the dog away. The dog stared at him. Chorizo just patted Stump on the shoulder. "Let's jus' go inside," he said. Stump sighed and silently waved goodbye to the dog. The dog realized what was going on and began to whimper. Chorizo closed the door behind him. The dog could still be heard.

"What if it was abandoned?" asked Stump. Chorizo just sighed and shook his head. "If it were up to me, I would let you bring the dog back in, amigo...is just that Kinski..." his voice faltered when he noticed Kinski standing in front of him. The two short outlaws stopped dead in ther tracks and stared up at Kinski nervously.

"Is ze _hund_ gone?" he asked. Stump nodded. "Yes, but I want to know why you don't like dogs. What did they ever do to you?" he asked. Kinski narrowed his eyes. "I didnt say _'I dont like dogs_ ,' I jus' dont vant _zat_ dog 'ere," he said. Chorizo stared at Kinski. Kinski noticed him staring and bared his teeth. "Vhat?!" he snapped. Chorizo narrowed his red eyes.

"Why don't you want _that_ dog?" he asked.

Kinski glared at the shrew. "None of yer business!" he shouted. With that, he stormed off. Stump and Chorizo exchanged glances before deciding to leave the hunchback jackrabbit alone.

...

Later in the day, they found Kinski sitting on his couch. In his hands was an old leather collar with a metal dog tag. Berky was seen etched into the tag. Kinski's bangs were in his face. Stump and Chorizo stood in front of the hunchback. "Kinski?" asked Chorizo. Kinski didnt look up. His thumbs lightly ran across the faded old leather collar. The tag lightly jingled.

Kinski wiped his hidden eyes with the back of his sleeve. Stump stared down at the leather collar. He read the tag. "...Who's Berky?" he asked. Kinski didnt answer right away. He took a deep breath and exhaled before answering. "...My dog...vhen I vas young..." he said in a low voice. Chorizo stared at Kinski. He didnt know he had a dog when he was young. Kinski's background was starting to open up to him a little more.

"...What happened to him?" asked Stump. Kinski didnt answer. Kinski gripped the leather collar tightly in his hands. "...He died...savin' my life..." Kinski's voice faltered and his shoulders began to tremble. "...He vas my best friend..." he said in a low voice. Stump and Chorizo's eyes widened in shock. They didnt realize. They instantly felt horrible for their tall friend.

Kinski sighed and looked up at his friends. They saw his wide, hazel eyes behind his blond bangs. "...I dont mind dogs...is just...ze dog you brought in...looks just like Berky..." said Kinski. His eyes red and wet. Stump and Chorizo stared down at their friend. Their insides all the sudden felt heavy.

"We didnt realize, Kinski..." said Chorizo. Kinski just sighed and stared down at the collar in his hands. With that, he got up and walked away. The two watched Kinski till he disappeared out of the mines.

Kinski sat down outside and buried his face in his arms. Just then, he felt something cold touch his hand. He looked up and was face to face with the dog Stump and Chorizo found earlier. Kinski stared at the dog, then lowered his head back down. "Go avay," he said. The dog didnt leave. Instead, it circled around him once, then began licking his hair.

Kinski looked up, and got his face licked. Kinski stared at the dog giving him a dumb, happy smile. Kinski smirked and patted the top of the dog's head. The dog licked his hand. Before Kinski could react, the dog lunged at him and began licking his face.

Kinski laughed. "Ok! ok! cut zat out!" he said laughing and gently pushed the dog away. The dog jumped away, then it stopped and wagged its tail. Kinski smiled as dog saliva ran down his face, but he didnt care as he stared at the dog. The dog came forward and rubbed up against him. As it did, he checked around the dogs neck for a collar. There was no collar. It didnt belong to anyone.

"Vhere did ya come from?" he asked the dog as he scratched the sides of the dogs face. The dog barked. 'Bark!' Kinski's heart sank a little. Berky's barks were different then normal dogs. He 'berked' not 'barked'...which was how Kinski named him...

Kinski smiled a small smile anyway. Just then he heard footsteps. He looked up, just as Chorizo and Stump appeared in the doorway. Kinski got up and stared at his friends. They stared at him, then at the dog, then back at Kinski.

"...We know Berky was a good dog, Kinski...but...you need to let it go...and move on..." said Chorizo. Stump nodded. "Can we let the dog stay? We'll even let you name him," the short jackrabbit said as he pointed to the dog next to Kinski. Kinski looked down at the dog. The dog looked up at Kinski and smiled. Kinski turned his head back to his friends and nodded.

"Ok...ve can keep ze dog," he said. Stump and Chorizo grinned. With that, Kinski pulled out the old leather collar from his old dog and put it around his new dog. The dog jumped around happily, making the collar jingle. Kinski grinned happily. It was like as if Berky came back from the dead!

"Come on Berky! Le's go git ya some food! ja?" asked Kinski. Berky barked. Kinski laughed as he ran past Stump and Chorizo. The new Berky barked and ran after Kinski. Stump smiled and watched the two till they were gone. "I've never seen Kinski so happy. I'm glad we found that dog. He now has a new home and a new owner," said Stump. Chorizo stopped smiling and rubbed the back of his head.

Stump noticed this and stared at Chorizo. "What's wrong, Cho? You now having a change of heart for Berky?" he asked. Chorizo shook his head. "No...is just that. I need to tell ya, amigo...Berky aint no male perro...is a muchacha, a girl. Stump's heart skipped a beat. "What? Berky's a girl? Does K. know?" he asked. Chorizo looked over to Kinski and Berky as they ran around.

"...I dont think so...but I'm sure he'll figure out soon..." Chorizo shrugged. "I dont think it will really matter, no?" he asked Stump. Stump thought for a minute before shaking his head. "I dont think so," he answered.

A couple days later...

When morning came, Stump and Chorizo are at the table, eating breakfast. Kinski came into the room and stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Stump and Chorizo stop eating and look up at the hunchback jackrabbit. "Good morning, K. How are you?" asked Stump in his British accent. Kinski just stared down at them with a neutral look on his face.

"...Fine...jus'...fine..." Kinski finally answered.

Chorizo could sense that something was wrong with his friend. He looked down at Kinski's feet and realized that something was missing. "Hey...Kinski...where's Berky?" the shrew asked.

Kinski turned his focus to Chorizo. "Oh...Berky is...busy...at the moment..." he said. Stump and Chorizo exchanged confused glances. "Busy?" they asked together. Kinski nodded. "Berky vasnt feelin' so good las' night," he explained. Stump nodded his head and smiled a small smile.

"Oh...well, that's what happens. I'm sure its just a normal sickness...he'll be fine," he said.

Kinski nodded. "Ja...I guess yer right...because is so normal to see a male dog have babies righ' next to yer couch!" Kinski said as he raised his voice and narrowed his eyes at his friends. Chorizo and Stump's eyes went wide in shock. "Que?!" shouted Chorizo in Spanish. Kinski snarled.

"You two knew Berky vas a girl dog, jes?" he asked. Stump put his hands up. "Don't look at me! Chorizo told me!" he said. Chorizo shot Stump a look, but turned to look back at the angry hunchback.

"I...I thought you knew-" "Vell I didnt!" Kinski snapped back. "Now I'm stuck vith a female dog an' her lil' vones!" he shouted. Stump stared up at Kinski. "What's wrong with that?" he asked. Kinski snarled at Stump, but didnt answer. Kinski sighed and stared angrily down at the ground.

All was quiet.

Kinski motioned his hand to follow. Stump and Chorizo got up and followed. They gasped at the scene they saw. In the middle, near the couch, was Berky, and all around her was twenty five little puppies. "You zink I can take care of tventy five puppies?" he asked them. Stump and Chorizo's mouths dropped. "Oh..." said Stump. Chorizo stared down at the puppies. Bill isnt gonna like this when he gits back from Grime, he thought. Then he knelt down and lightly patted one on top of its head. He turned his head and looked up at Kinski.

"You could jus'...let them roam out in the desert..." he offered. Kinski looked down at Berky, who looked back up at him with a smile on her face. Kinski sighed and looked down at his feet. Silently, he got up and walked out of the place.

Kinski walked down the faint dirt path outside of the abandoned mines that led toward the town of Dirt. A couple missing posters were tacked all around the place with an image of a dog that looked just like Berky, but Kinski didnt notice them as he walked toward the saloon. He pushed the bat wing saloon doors away from him and entered into the dim lit gas can. The honky tonk music instantly stopped and everyone inside the saloon went dead silent as the hunchback made his way to the bar and sat down at one of the stools.

Buford noticed Kinski instantly and poured the outlaw a glass of alcohol without even asking. Kinski wrapped his huge furry hand around the small glass and drank it in one gulp. Just then, the saloon doors swung open and a young light brown jackrabbit came in. He was around ten or eleven years old and had light brown hair with lighter colored ears sticking up from the top. He wore dirty overalls and a red bandana around his neck. In his arms he held a stack of papers.

The citizens stared at the nervous boy as he began to shyly come up to the men and give them a piece of paper. "H-hi, sir...um...h-have you seen my dog?" he asked a cat named Elgin. Elgin stared down at the picture before slowly shaking his head. "Nah, sorry, boy." he said. The boy's ears went down in sadness. "Ok...thank you," he said as he went on to the next man in the saloon. Kinski could hear the boy coming closer and closer. He was asking about a dog...could it be the same dog Stump and Chorizo found?

Kinski felt a tap on his arm. He slowly swiveled around and faced the boy. Kinski narrowed his eyes and glared down at the boy. The boy's knees were shaking in fear as he stared up at the hunchback jackrabbit. No one in the bar spoke as they stared at the boy.

"Um...e-excuse m-me sir-" "L-leave him alone, Jack...he doesn't like people," said Elbows from the table farthest away. Kinski growled a low growl behind his blonde bangs. The boy, named Jack, froze in his place as he stared over to Elbows, then slowly turned back to Kinski, whose eyes flickered back to him.

"H-have you seen m-my dog?" Jack stuttered as he handed Kinski one of the papers to him. Kinski stared at the picture of the dog. It was the same dog. Goldish dirty hair and medium sized. Berky...only his-er her real name was Marigold. Kinski took the paper and continued to stare at it. It was dead silent in the saloon. Kinski stared at the dog picture before finally narrowing his eyes. It was his dog now, not the boy's. It was his loss for losing Berk-er-Marigold.

With that, Kinski crumpled the paper in his fist and threw it at the boy's face. "Never saw ze bitch. Git lost," he snarled as he turned back and glared at Buford for another drink. As Kinski drank, he could hear the boy sniffling and crying. Kinski tried to ignore it and continued to drink. He listened as the boy sadly walked out of the saloon and down the street.

Kinski turned his head slightly to look out the window. He saw Jack walk up to an unfamiliar rabbit family (Jack's family). They asked him if he had any luck, but Jack sadly shook his head. His mom hugged him tightly, then they all left down the street.

After the boy and his family were gone, Kinski got up and slowly left the bar. He knew that the men in the saloon were glaring behind his back for being so cold to the boy, but that's what Kinski was: a cold, heartless outlaw. He didnt care what the boy lost. He wasnt going to give up his best friend to that little brat. He ignored their glares as he walked back to the Abandoned Mines.

...

A couple of weeks passed, everytime Kinski visited Dirt, he saw Jack with his family asking around town for the dog. Kinski would keep his head low and make his way around them to the saloon. Jack had a mother, a father, and two younger siblings, both girls. They all were from a different town, a couple days away, and found out that their beloved dog: Marigold, had escaped when she was dognapped from their home and was seen somewhere around Dirt.

Kinski had listened in on their conversations with the Dirtonians and found out that they loved their dog very much and wouldnt give up till they found her. Hearing this made Kinski's stomach twist...so he decided to kill the feeling with alcohol as he always did...just so the feelings would stay down...and never come back up...

The next morning, Kinski wouldn't allow Berky outside of the mines, not even to do her business. Stump came up to Kinski and Berky one morning with a disgusted look on his face. "Do you mind telling me why Berky isnt going outside to do her business?" he asked as he pointed to where she went. "And why it always has to be near where I sleep?" he added angrily. Kinski scratched Berky's ears as she laid her head down in embarassment. Kinski glared up at Stump.

"She can't go outside. She vill get taken by ze vultures," he lied. Stump gave him a look. "There aren't any vultures around here, K. Only that damn hawk," he said. Kinski stopped scratching Berky. "Fine! Zen I dont vant her to git taken by ze hawk, ok?! Zat problem, yes?" he asked in his German accent. Stump just rolled his eyes, not knowing half of what Kinski just said.

"Fine, but when Bill comes back and finds her leavings all over the mines, he's going to skin you alive and mount yer head on the wall," he said. Kinski covered his cringe by looking away and scratching Berky behind the ears again. Stump glared at Kinski, then finally sighed and walked away. "It's your funeral, K," he muttered as he left. Kinski sighed and looked back down at Berky. Berky looked up at him with her big, sad eyes. Kinski narrowed them a bit, but then they softened in guilt and he looked away from her as well.

Later, the three outlaws left Berky inside the mines with her twenty five babies. Kinski scratched behind her ears before he left. Berky had her head down and didnt even lick his hand the way she usually did when he scratched her. Kinski stared at her, surrounded by her puppies. He sighed and left with Stump and Chorizo. They arrived at the town in the wagon. They jumped off and left the boar in the middle of the road they always did.

As they made their way down the street to the saloon, Kinski began to notice all the new posters up all around the town. They all had a picture of Berky-Marigold on them. Kinski growled in anger. He instantly began to take down the posters and crumpling them up and kicking them away. There were so many. How many did zat damn brat put up?! Kinski screamed in his head angrily as he constantly continued to rip down the posters.

Chorizo noticed Kinski ripping down the posters and raised an eyebrow. "Kinski? What the hell are ya doin?" he asked. Kinski ripped down a poster and crumpled it up into a ball with his left hand and chucked it behind him. "None of yer business," he snarled. Chorizo's eyes flashed red, irritated by Kinski, but decided to not bother with the hunchback and continued onward to the saloon.

Kinski sighed and ripped down another poster. Stump's eyes flickered over to a poster and walked over to it. "What-hey!" he protested when Kinski grabbed it before he could read it. "Give it back, Kinski!" he shouted as he tried grabbing the paper out of Kinski's hand. Kinski held it high over his head and grinned mischievously before shoving the whole thing into his mouth. Stump grabbed the end that stuck out of the tall rabbits mouth, but ripped the paper in half. Kinski snickered and chewed the other half and swallowed it.

Chorizo walked over to the two rabbits and glared up at the tall one. "What the hell is up with ya, Kinski? Yer acting all loco...more loco then usual..." he added in a low voice. Kinski averted his eyes from Chorizo as he silently looked around for more posters with Berky on them. He found one crumpled on the ground. He picked it up and showed them. Chorizo and Stump stared at the poster. Their eyes widened a bit. "Oh," said Stump. Kinski nodded. Chorizo looked up at the poster in confusion. "So?" he asked. Kinski narrowed his eyes a bit.

"I met ze boy vhen he an' his family first came into ze town. Ze 'ave been here for zree veeks alvready," he said. Chorizo and Stump exchanged confused glances before looking back at the hunchback. "And...?" asked Stump. Kinski's anger rose inside him. "Zey vont leave till zey git zat dog back!" he screamed angrily, thrusting his arms up over his head.

Stump and Chorizo took a step back from the insane rabbit, but then held their ground. Just then, sheriff Amos came walking by. "Evenin' boys, is there somethin' wrong here?" he asked. Kinski growled in disgust and lowered his arms down. He didnt answer the sheriff as he shouldered past him and stormed down the street toward the saloon. Stump and Chorizo did the same and followed after the rabbit.

After a couple drinks and harassing a couple citizens, they decided to go home. When the boys came home, they found the place more trashed then usual. Their blankets were shredded to bits and their couches were ruined. Everywhere were Berky's puppies, playing around and chewing everything they could sink their little teeth into. Chorizo and Stump turned their heads up to Kinski and glared. Kinski raised his shoulders up nervously.

...

The next morning, Kinski woke up with a splitting headache and sore arms. Kinski couldnt remember much from last night...which was good, he would have rather not know about it anyway. He lifted his sore arm, but cursed when a jolt of pain ran up and down his arm. Kinski sighed. He ran his tongue inside his mouth, tasting the alcohol. He finally got himself to sit upright and scan his surroundings as best as he could without throwing up all over himself.

The place was still trashed from last night. Kinski winced and found Berky sitting next to his couch, staring at him with her sad eyes. She whimpered and rested her head on his lap. Kinski stared down at her, slowly remembering what happened last night. He groaned again when a wave of pain hit him.

Berky whimpered again and licked his furry hand once. Kinski swallowed, which hurt a lot, and finally sighed. "...Ok, you can go outside...but only fer a few minutes," he said as he tried getting up. Berky's ears perked up and she instantly began to jump around Kinski excitedly with a huge smile on her face. Kinski smiled a small sad smile, but then it disappeared when he felt his legs give in and began to falter. Berky moved and made sure Kinski didnt fall on his face. Kinski wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

They both went outside. Right when Berky went outside, she instantly bolted to town. Kinski gasped. "Berky!" he screamed. He staggered and tried getting his weak legs to work. Berky continued to run, not even looking back or slowing down. "Berky..." Kinski called out weakly, as he staggered, but continued forward to the town...

...

When the poor, hunchback rabbit got to town, he saw the dog looking around in the middle of the street, sniffing the air for her owners. Kinski narrowed his eyes a bit and made his way to her. "Zere you are, girl...I zought I lost ya..." he muttered as he grabbed her by the collar and began to pull her back to the Abandoned mines. Berky wouldnt budge. Kinski sighed in frustration as he picked her up and began to walk back.

"Marigold!" screamed a young voice behind Kinski. Kinski froze. Berky barked excitedly and began to struggle in Kinski's grasp. He turned around and saw Jack running down the street toward them. Suddenly, Kinski saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head slightly and gasped in horror. A wagon was coming straight down the road, and Jack was unaware of it.

Berky saw it too and began to panic and whimper. She finally jumped out of Kinski's arms.

"No!" Kinski screamed as Berky started to bolt toward Jack to save him. Kinski instantly felt as if the whole world went into slow motion. His mind instantly went into a flashback where he saw himself where Jack was, and Berky coming toward him. The wagon was coming dangerously close. It was like seeing his past in a different perspective. This was exactly what happened to the old Berky...and it was as if the past had come back to remind him of it!

"Berky!" Kinski screamed, instantly coming out of the flashback and ran, ignoring the pain in his body. He sprinted toward the two. Berky made it to Jack, but the wagon wasn't slowing down or stopping for them. Jack gripped his dog tightly, then turned his head and noticed the wagon. He screamed in horror.

Kinski came and grabbed both Berky and the boy and leaped out of the way of the moving wagon. They all three tumbled and rolled along the hard packed dirt ground. Kinski screamed in pain and writhed in agony. The wagon had hit a good portion of his body and deformity that it hurt like fire. He curled up into a miserable little ball and shook where he laid.

The world began to spin and darkness was starting to eat away at the corners of his eyes. Kinski began to slip in and out of consciousness as he strained to look to see if Berky and the boy were ok. Kinski saw Jack hugging Berky-Marigold. Just then, Jack's family came rushing over to them and hugged Jack tightly. They were screaming and crying to Jack, but Kinski couldn't hear anymore. His ears had gone deaf. Kinski's eyes rolled up inside his head and he passed out...

...

Kinski woke up back at the Abandoned Mines. His half opened eyes finally focused. "Vha..?" he finally blurted out. Stump and Chorizo appeared in front of him. "You ok, Kinski? We saw you unconscious in the middle of the street back at Dirt," Stump said. Kinski's slow mind finally adjusted to where he finally understood what was going on. He slowly sat upright in his couch, but felt a jolt of pain go through him. He groaned in pain. Chorizo and Stump helped him back down.

"You aint goin' nowhere, amigo. We overheard some of the Dirt dwellers say you got hit by a movin' wagon. So you aint goin' nowhere till yer body fully heals," Chorizo said. Kinski instantly couldn't think straight. He rolled his head over to Chorizo, half tired, half in pain. "Berrky...vheresh...hund...go fin'... vagg-gon...blahdfbgk..." Kinski rocked his head slightly, rambling nonsense weakly in German.

Stump was about to ask him what the hell the rabbit just said, but Chorizo told him to leave him be. "He just got hit by a wagon, we wont be able to talk to him till he's better," Chorizo said. Stump looked back to Kinski, who had already passed out again. He sighed and the two both left.

The next couple days, Stump and Chorizo checked to see how their old friend was doing. Kinski had difficulties sitting upright or holding objects, so they had to help him eat and work on his sentences. It was hard since he kept slipping back to random nonsense in German. Stump and Chorizo struggled to teach the German rabbit English again, but after two weeks, Kinski was almost back to "normal."

"Vhere's Berky?" asked Kinski the next morning. Stump and Chorizo shrugged. "Dunno, K. For all we know, Berky and her owners are long gone from 'ere," he answered. The thought made Kinski's stomach twist. He didn't want to lose Berky again. He loved the dog...even though she wasn't the real Berky... but she looked just like him...and seeing Berky again through her was the next best thing he could ask for. He looked down when he felt the end of his pant leg being tugged on. One of Berky's offspring was chewing on the end of it. Kinski bent down and picked the little puppy up.

It was like seeing a mini version of Berky. Kinski smiled a small smile before putting the puppy back down and watching it scamper off to its twenty four brothers and sisters, all sleeping soundly in the corner with a lot of chewed blankets and pillows.

"Bill is gonna flip when he comes back and finds out about this," said Stump. Chorizo punched him. "Who says he will? Kinski's gonna dump them off someplace far away from here, si?" Chorizo asked as he turned his head up to the tall rabbit. Kinski averted his eyes from them. That was the last thing he wanted to do to Berky's/Marigold's puppies. Kinski didn't want to think of Berky/Marigold anymore. It hurt him just thinking that she was gone...

He sighed sadly as he silently got up and began to head out of the mines...

...

Kinski didn't stop at the saloon like he always did when he was upset or needed something to dull his senses. He walked down the street, listening and looking for Berky. Occasionally he thought he saw Berky, but was mistaken and continued on. Some of the citizens avoided the rabbit by averting their eyes from him.

Finally, right when Kinski thought that Berky was gone, he heard a faint bark. He turned around and looked. Nothing. Then he saw something move at the corner of his eye and noticed the hotel near him. Could they still be staying at the hotel? Kinski decided to check as he went up to the hotel and went inside.

"H-hey! You aren't supposed t-to be here! Git out! G-git out!" the hotel owner shouted at Kinski. Kinski ignored the hotel owner as he walked past and up the stairs to the second floor. He got to the top of the stair case and walked down the long hallway. He stopped near the fifth door to his right when he heard scratching and whimpering on the other side.

"Jack, why don't you try feeding Marigold? She just might be hungry," a muffled female voice said from the other side of the door, most likely Jack's mom. "She wont eat, mother. She hasn't eaten for a week; and every time I take her out, she tries to bolt away!" Jack said. Then, Marigold whimpered loudly and howled a long, sad howl.

Kinski hesitated to open the door. He wanted to see her again, but he didnt want to lose his reputation and get caught by the sheriff. Kinski sighed and lowered his head. He knew why she was upset. She wanted her puppies. She missed her little ones...not him. Kinski sighed silently and began to walk out of the hotel. He thought about Berky, and all the times she was with him...she just liked him because he fed her and gave her a place to stay...for her puppies.

He didn't want her to stay in the town anymore. He wanted Berky and her puppies out of his sight. It pained him to even think of his old dog. Marigold wasn't Berky, and she never will be. She never loved him, she just wanted a place to have her puppies, then go back to her real family...

Kinski ignored everyone as he walked out of the town and back to the Abandoned Mines... Fine...she can 'ave her puppies back...zey make a mess of ze place anzyvay...Kinski thought as he walked alone.

...

Early the next morning, when the sun wasn't even up over the mountains, Kinski carried a large cardboard box with all twenty five puppies inside to the hotel. He shifted the box to one arm and shushed the puppies for the sixth time before giving them another piece of dried bacon to shut them up.

The box was heavy to carry, but Kinski managed to carry it to the hotel. When he got to the door, he found it locked. Damn it! Kinski snarled in his head. He stood there in the cold for a minute. May be he could just leave them on the front step. Kinski shook his head. No...he couldn't do that, the stupid hotel manager wouldn't know who's puppies they were. He couldn't leave a note either...he didn't know how to spell... or write in English for that matter.

Kinski's eyes flickered down to the welcome mat at his feet. He stared down at it for a minute before placing the box of puppies down. He remembered a time when Stump told him how he was able to get into some guys house because the stupid dimwit left his key under the mat at the base of the front door. Could the hotel owner be the same?

Kinski lifted the mat. A key sat underneath. Kinski grinned mischievously as he picked it up from the step and unlocked the door. The door opened. Kinski tossed the key aside, not caring where it landed and picked up the box of puppies. He entered inside as quiet as possible. The hotel owner was not at his desk, which made Kinski very happy. He walked past and up the stairs to the second floor.

He stopped at the fifth door he stood in front of yesterday and placed the box of puppies in front of it. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door lightly. When he saw the light turn on from the base of the door, he quickly turned away and walked back to the stairs.

 _Good viddence,_ Kinski thought bitterly, but felt his stomach twist in pain. He didn't turn his head back when he heard the door open, and when Jack and his two sisters squealed in excitement to see the box of puppies at their door.

Marigold appeared at the doorway and instantly lit up at the sight of her puppies, then lifted her head up and saw Kinski leaving. She leaped right over the box and bounded straight to him. Kinski heard a bark behind him. He turned, right when Berky leaped at him, thus causing him to fall backwards and to the ground. He gritted his teeth from the fall. Berky licked all over his face. Kinski turned his head away from her and placed his hand in front of him.

"Berky!" he said in laughter as he pushed her away from him and wiped the dog slobber from his face. Berky wagged her tail happily and continued to give him licks. Kinski smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you too, Berky," he muttered.

Kinski opened his eyes and froze when he saw that the whole family who owned Berky/Marigold were standing a couple feet from them and staring down at them. Kinski quickly got to his feet and took a couple steps back, but stopped, nearly falling down the stairs.

"Who are you?" asked the father. Kinski didn't answer. Jack stared at Kinski with narrowed eyes. "H-he's the man who told me to git lost, father...h-he said he didn't know where M-Marigold was," he added. The father narrowed his eyes and pulled out his rifle. "Well, now it's yer turn to git lost, mister. Leave our Marigold alone, an' you wont git a bullet between yer eyes, got it?" he asked as he cocked his rifle. Kinski flinched.

Suddenly, Marigold barked at the father and stood right between them. Kinski and the family stared down at Marigold in shock. She was protecting Kinski! She barked loudly at the family again. Her ears were flat against her head and the back of her fur stuck straight up. The family took a step back from the dog. The mom suddenly gasped.

"Wait! That's the hunchback who saved Jack and Marigold!" She said, remembering the incident with the wagon. The father placed the gun down. Marigold wagged her tail to show that and turned her head to Kinski. Kinski smiled a small smile and went down on his knees. Berky/Marigold came up to him and let him wrap his arms around her into a hug.

Then Kinski looked up at the family. His eyes scanned over all of their shocked and sad faces, then to Jack. Kinski stared at the young boy. He noticed tears streaming down the young boy's face. Kinski's face softened a bit when he saw himself in the boy again, this time after he lost Berky. Kinski blinked, then finally sighed and stopped hugging Marigold. He took off Berky's collar from Marigold's neck and placed it in his pocket.

Then he stared at the female dog and then over to her owners. "I don't vant you to choose me over yer family," he told her. Berky/Marigold cocked her head a bit and perked her ears. Kinski continued to talk to her in a low voice.

"...I know you aint ze vreal Berky...but ze past couple veeks vere ze best...it vas...it vas like I 'ad my old best friend back...but, I cant keep you...you alveady 'ave a loving family," he said. Berky/Marigold looked over to her family, then back to Kinski. Kinski smirked. "Besides, if you stayed, I vould have to clean up after yer pups, an' Bill vould have my head mounted on ze vall," he said.

Berky barked. Kinski smiled and patted the top of her head. "I'll miss you, Berk-er, I mean Marigold," he said, then licked the side of her face. Berky/Marigold licked the side of his face too before running back to her family. The family hugged their dog happily. The father looked up at Kinski, who waved with an insane grin on his face.

"Come on kids, lets go back inside before the crazy man comes over here," the father said as he herded his family, Marigold, and puppies into the house. Kinski snickered as he got up and walked down the steps, out the door, and to the saloon. He took a couple drinks in secret celebration for Marigold and her pups before heading back to the mines.

...

When he got there, Stump and Chorizo were sitting at the table playing cards. They looked up at him. "So, where's Berky?" they asked. Kinski sat down in one of the empty chairs at the table and grabbed a couple cards from the deck. "She's gone. Like you said," he lied and tossed a card down.

"Oh, ok," said Chorizo as he looked back at his cards. Kinski nodded and looked back his. A couple silent minutes passed as the three played cards. Kinski's droopy ears perked up when he heard the sound of faint barking in the distance. Kinski smiled. The family and Marigold were leaving, along with the puppies, back to their home. Kinski already missed the dog.

The silence continued as the three outlaws played cards. Just then, they heard loud footsteps come into the place in the other section of the mines. It was Bill; coming back from the town called Grime. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the place all torn and destroyed beyond belief.

"Son of a bitch! What the bloody hell happened to the place?!" he screamed in shock and anger. Stump and Chorizo instantly turned to Kinski, who was already sliding out of his seat and heading toward the other tunnel that headed outside.

"I vas never 'ere," he muttered to the two short outlaws as he bolted away.

The End!

...

 **Berky was inspired when I was reading those Bone graphic novels. If you are familiar with them, I would think you would know Bartleby the adorable rat person. I somehow got Berky out of the name, and thought it would be a cool dog name...during the time, I thought it would be fun for Kinski to have a dog (also in Kinski's story in Outlaw Confidential), so this short was created during K's story and I felt bad for it all so I decided to "bring Berky back" so to speak. :) hope you liked.**

 **Another thing. Would have been cool if Marigold was actually one of Berky's pups he had with another dog.**


	4. Chapter 4: Water Spirits

**Water Spirits**

Kinski, Chorizo and Stump groaned as they were pulled out of their couches and dragged out to the wagon by Bill. It was the middle of the night. Bill shoved Kinski into the passenger seat of the wagon, and shoved Stump and Chorizo in the back. Then Bill went around to the driver side. He whipped the reins and they were off.

Kinski rubbed his tired eyes, Stump fell back asleep, and Chorizo nodded his head, trying to stay up, but couldn't seem to. The sun wasn't up until another four hours. The moon revealed its pale surface in the sky, bathing the four in moonlight as they rode to where the mountains were. Kinski yawned and turned his tired head to Bill.

"Vhere are ve going?" he asked. Bill didn't say anything and whipped the reins again. Kinski's eyes started to get heavy. He lolled his head to the side and fell asleep again. Bill shook him. "Wake up, boy, can't keep ya sleepin. Don't fall asleep back there!'" added Bill as he turned his head to Stump and Chorizo. Chorizo snapped his head up, and Stump woke up. "I'm up! I'm up!" he shouted. Bill shushed the short jackrabbit. "Quiet you bloat! Don't wake the whole desert!" he snarled.

Kinski snarled. "Zen tell us vere ve are going zen?! Vhy so early? Vhy-" "Shut it! Here, drink this, that'll wake you," said Bill, handing the hunchback jackrabbit a cup of coffee. Kinski stared down at the brown water. He had never tried coffee. He took a sip. The minute the drink touched his lips, it burned his tongue and the inside of his mouth.

"Ack!" said Kinski as he spat it out and stuck his tongue out. It tasted horrible. Bill ignored him. "Give it to the others," he told him. Kinski handed the nasty tasting coffee to Stump, who drank it like it was water. Chorizo had some was well, and they both seemed more alert. Kinski turned his head back and slouched.

"Vhere are ve going?" asked Kinski again.

"We are going there," said Bill, pointing to where the mountains are. "There are legends going around, about how this whole bloody wasteland was covered in water. All but one area dried up. A small waterhole. They call it The Black Pool. Legends say that its cursed, and that water spirits live there now…you know what a water spirit is, right?" he asked his boys.

Kinski stopped wiping his tongue with the back of sleeve and shook his head. Bill turned his head over to Stump and Chorizo, who also shook their heads. Bill sighed and turned back to face the front. "A water spirit is a mystical creature. They only live in the water and never come out. They are very powerful. Some say that they are like mermaids…water women…" said Bill. Kinski stared at Bill with wide eyes. Stump snorted.

"And you believe in that rubbish?" he asked. Bill whipped around. "I have been told that countless times by non-believing bastards! I'll prove them wrong! All those years of searching will finally pay off!" he yelled. Stump snorted at Bill's words. "Why do we have to come along?" he asked. Bill whipped the reins again.

"Because I plan to catch one, and you three are gonna help me. It's really tricky to catch one," he muttered the last part. Chorizo blinked in surprise, then scoffed and decided to ask. "So you think we'll be able to find one or something?" he asked. Bill sighed. "Just be happy that I'll be willing to share some of the reward money for catching the bloody mermaid ok?" he asked angrily. Chorizo blinked. "What is a mermaid?" he asked.

Stump rolled his eyes. "Females with the lower half of a fish tail. It's all a bunch of hooey if you ask me. I've been out at sea before an' I never once saw a single "mermaid." Jus' an old sailor story," he explained. Chorizo nodded. He knew about crazy supernatural stuff and didn't believe it one bit, and listening about a mermaid was as equally as crazy as well. Stump and Chorizo slouched in the back of the wagon. Kinski was dead silent as he sat there, twitching nervously as he looked out to the desert.

...

When they arrived, the four adults jumped out. Kinski stared at the water. The moonlight glistened along the surface. The pool of water was huge. It covered fifty yards. The middle of the water was as black as what the name described it. Stump came up next to the tall hunchback and nudged him. "Nothin' but a little water, K. Nothin' to be afraid of," he said. Kinski didn't answer as he stared down at the water. It wasn't the water he was afraid of...

Stump was about to touch the water with his fingers, but was pulled back by Bill. "Don't! Water spirits are known to grab men into the water and drown them within seconds," Bill said gravely. Stump rolled his eyes, then looked over to Kinski.

"Git a load of this mad one. "Water spirits," "Mermaids." You don't believe in his bloody story now do you, K?" asked Stump in his British accent. Kinski's wide eyes flickered to Stump and Bill from behind his bangs, but he didn't say anything. Stump narrowed his eyes a bit.

"W'as wrong wit' you? You seem quieter then usual, K. It's kinda creepy," Stump said. Kinski just stood there, fumbling with his fingers nervously. Bill didn't see it as he pulled the tall rabbit back over to the wagon. "Here, help me with this," he said. Kinski got up onto the wagon. A small wooden, boat sat in the back, along with empty bags and nets.

Kinski, lightly ran his fingers along the surface of the wooden boat. Bill lightly slapped his hands away from it. "That's a boat, haven't you ever seen one before, boy?" Bill asked. Kinski just stared at him. Bill sighed. "Well, never you mind, just help me pull it out." Kinski did. They got the boat out and placed it into the water. The boat floated along the surface. "Right then," said Bill. He grabbed two bags, one empty, one full; and two nets.

"Git in," Bill commanded. Kinski felt his heart skip a beat. Chorizo obeyed. Stump just rolled his eyes and got in after. Kinski stared at Bill, then at the boat. "...C-can I stay 'ere...and v-vatch ze vagon?" he asked. Bill gave him a look. "This boat can hold all of us, and I'll need everyone's help. Now git in!" he snapped. Kinski didn't move. Bill stormed up to the hunchback jackrabbit. Kinski tried getting away, but Bill grabbed him by one of his droopy rabbit ears and roughly pulled him to the boat.

"Ow! no! No-!" Kinski screamed, but stopped when he felt Bill shove him, thus falling backwards into the boat and on his deformity. He felt heavy pains jolt throughout his body as he kicked and flinched in pain next to Stump and Chorizo.

Bill tossed them the supplies before getting in himself. Bill picked up two oars from inside the boat and began to row toward the middle. Kinski started to get hysterical. He tried getting out, but Stump and Chorizo held him down.

When the boat got to the middle, Bill slowed down the boat and stopped. Kinski hugged his knees and trembled. Bill ignored him and grabbed the full bag from Chorizo and began to dump the stuff over the edge. Stump wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What the bloody hell is that smell?" he asked and held his nose.

"It's fish food, humans usually keep this stuff around to feed their pet fishes, since we don't have real fish we have to use this stuff," Bill said. Then he tossed the open bag into the water and watched it sink down into the waters below.

Bill pulled out a lantern and lit it, illuminating their area of the water. Even with the warm, yellow light, Bill still couldn't see the bottom of the water. Stump and Chorizo exchanged glances before looking away. Stump rolled his eyes. He sighed and rested his arms and head on the edge of the boat, away from Bill. Chorizo sat next to Kinski, who still hugged his knees and buried his head in his arms.

They waited.

...

After twenty minutes of waiting, Bill pulled out a cigar and lit one himself. He nudged Kinski and offered him a cigar. Kinski silently shook his head and buried his head back down. Chorizo had fallen asleep. Stump sighed loudly and stared down at the dark waters. "How long till the "water spirits" come out and snog with us?" asked Stump sarcastically.

Bill shot him a glare. "Shut it! They will come! And we'll catch it! Keep yer eyes on the water," commanded Bill and turned his head to the other side of the boat. Stump sighed and continued staring off at the water with half closed tired eyes.

After a while, Stump got bored. He leaned his head over the boat and stared at his reflection into the dark water. Suddenly, he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Stump jumped turned his head.

Kinski stared at Stump. His eyes were wide and full of fear. Stump shrugged Kinski's hand from his shoulder. "Don't tell me yer afraid of some water girl, K. Mermaids don't exist. I've been on a ship out at sea for a couple years, and I have never seen one fish tail of a mermaid or water spirit or whatever the bloody hell you call them," Stump said sharply in a low voice.

Kinski continued to stare at Stump. "I-I vas on a ship too...I-I've seen vone," he said in a soft, scared voice. Stump snorted and looked away. Kinski moved away and went back to his curled up state, away from the edge of the boat. Bill continued to look on his side. Stump rolled his eyes and peered into the water.

"You two are superstitious dorks, there's no such…" he started to mutter, but his voice faltered when he noticed something in the water. A mermaid? asked Stump in his head, then he dismissed the thought. _No, there's no such thing as a..._

Suddenly, a female's head slowly came up from the dark waters. Stump felt his heart skip a beat as he stared down at the female in shock. She was very beautiful. She looked like a very light brown rabbit with aqua blue gills and sea foam-green webbed ears. Her hair was platinum blonde and glistened in the moonlight.

She smiled up at Stump. Stump noticed something scaly move underneath her. In the murky waters, he could make out her glittering green-blue tail. He stared back at her beautiful royal blue eyes. He felt very weak. He opened and closed his mouth, but nothing came out. The mermaid continued to smile. "Hello, Stump," she said in a sweet voice.

Bill turned his head to him and noticed that Stump's face was pale. "You all right?" he asked. Stump turned his head to Bill. He tried talking, but nothing came out. Stump's eyes widened. He all the sudden couldn't talk. He tried pointing to the mermaid in the water, but she was gone.

Bill narrowed his eyes; then he shrugged and continued looking out for any water spirits. Kinski looked up and stared at Stump. Stump stared at Kinski, and tried talking too, but couldnt. The tall rabbit just gave him a confused look before shrugging and lowering his head back down. Stump turned back. The mermaid was all the sudden there, smiling at him. Stump finally found his voice.

"Y-you kn-know my name?" he asked her. The mermaid nodded. "Yes. I know you. You are Stockley Cutler, but you go by Stump," she said. Stump was dumbfounded. "H-how?" he asked. The mermaid laughed a small laugh. "Why wouldnt I? You are so cute," she said. Stump felt himself blush. A mermaid found him cute?

"Y-you aren't r-really real...right? You aren't r-real?" he asked, stuttering over his words. The mermaid lifted her webbed hand out of the water and held it up to him. "Do I feel real?" she asked.

Stump hesitated, then touched her hand. His fingers lightly ran across her see- through webbing in between her slender fingers. She wasn't made of water, nor she wasn't a figment of his own imagination. She was real. "B-but…" he said, but faltered when the mermaid lifted herself up to the boat, closer to him.

"I'm real... and I really like you, Stump," she said. Stump felt his hands sweat and his face heat up. He stared at the female. His heart pounded loudly. "I…I…you…I don't…" he spluttered. The half fish, half rabbit smiled again. "You are so cute," she said. Stump smiled and looked away. The mermaid kept smiling.

"I always thought you were the cutest one of your group. You are very handsome, Stump...but I dont feel that you love me back," she said, starting to pout. Stump looked back up at her. He thought it was cute to see her pout, but wanted her to smile at him again.

"I'm sorry…I never thought anyone would..." his voice faltered again. The mermaid stopped pouting and smiled at him again. "Oh, but I do, Stump, I think you are the most handsome man I have ever met," she said. Stump blushed and laughed.

"Oh…no no. I'm not that good looking…am I?" he asked. "Who are you talking to?" asked a voice behind Stump. Stump turned and found Chorizo staring at him suspiciously. Stump laughed a small laugh. "Oh...no one," he said, blushing. Chorizo gave him a look, then over to Stump's side of the boat to the waters. No one was there.

Chorizo gave Stump one last look before turning away and going back to sleep. Stump turned back to his side and the mermaid was back. She smiled up at him with admiration. Stump laughed softly, making him feel silly and light headed.

The mermaid gazed up at him, her eyes sparkled. "I love you, Stump," she said. Stump smiled. "I love you too," he said. With that, the mermaid moved closer to the boat. Stump leaned over a little more over the boat. The mermaid grinned and leaned closer to him.

Stump's dry forehead touched against her wet forehead. He closed his tired eyes and kissed her glistening wet lips. The water spirit closed her eyes and kissed Stump back. While Stump kissed the water spirit, he didn't notice her lift her wet arms out of the water.

Before he could do anything, he felt her arms wrap around is waist and pull him toward her. "Mmph!" Stump groaned and felt himself falling forward. He fell in with a loud splash. He opened his eyes in the murky water and struggled to break free. The water rabbit kept kissing him and pulled him deeper and deeper into the water. Stump kicked and tried pushing the mermaid away from him. Bubbles escaped his mouth as he struggled in the mermaid's grasp.

Suddenly, Stump felt something grab him by the back of his shirt and vest. He was jerked away from the water spirit and pulled upward. Stump gasped for air when his head broke to the surface. Bill had the back of his shirt. Kinski helped Stump back into the boat and patted his back. Stump coughed up a lot of water and shook all over. Chorizo took off his poncho and wrapped it around the shocked, short rabbit.

Stump coughed and spat more water out of his mouth. He was soaking wet. His clothes clung to his body. His hair and ears dripped. Kinski and Chorizo patted his back. Bill began yelling at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You tryin' to give me a heart attack?!" Bill screamed.

Before Stump could answer, the water spirit flung herself out of the water and onto the boat. Kinski, Stump, and Chorizo screamed in horror and moved backwards away from her.

Her teeth were sharp and her eyes were burning red with rage. Her fur was pale white and water floated in and out of her. She screeched angrily and crawled her way to them. Her fish tail lashing angrily behind her. Bill quickly grabbed the net and attacked her with it. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump shook on the edge of the boat as Bill wrestled with the monster.

Suddenly, Kinski felt long, wet arms wrap around him from behind. He screamed, but was cut off mid scream when a wet hand slapped over his mouth and tried dragging him into the water. He struggled and thrashed, but it was no use.

"Come in, Kinssski. Come into the water with usss," one of them hissed in Kinski's droopy ear. Kinski struggled and fought to stay in the boat, but the mermaid was stronger then him and continued to pull him. Suddenly, Kinski eyed one of the oars. He grabbed it and began bashing the water spirits. The water spirits screamed a high shrill and loosened their grip on him.

Chorizo grabbed an ore as well and helped Kinski bash the water spirits. Kinski finally got out of their grasp and continued hitting them. Finally, the water spirits couldn't take it anymore and went away. Kinski breathed heavily. He was standing up in the boat. The wooden oar raised high over his wet head. Chorizo was doing the same, but his arms finally dropped from exhaustion.

Finally, he turned to Bill. Bill had a water creature in his arms. The water creature wriggled out of his arms and fell back into the water. Bill cursed and tried grabbing her, but she was gone. He sighed and slowly straightened up. He gasped and breathed heavily. He was soaking wet as well. Bill slowly turned his head over to Stump. "Now do... you... believe me?" asked Bill between gulps of air. Stump slightly nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

...

Bill rowed the boat back to the shallow end of the pool. As the boat gently made its way back to the shallow end, the four didn't talk. Stump stayed away from the edge, along with Kinski, Chorizo, and Bill. Bill shook his bowler hat, droplets sprayed out of it and he placed it back on his head.

Finally, the Gila Monster turned to Kinski. "You know about water spirits," he said, not in a question. Kinski stared at Bill, then looked away as they got closer to land. When they were within reach, Kinski got up and jumped out of the boat and back onto dry land. Bill, Stump and Chorizo followed suit.

"You have seen them before, haven't you?" asked Bill. Kinski shrugged. "...I knew vone mermaid..." he admitted. Stump stared at the hunchback. "You knew of one?" he asked. Kinski nodded. "Jes...I vas part...of a freak show...an' vone of ze freaks vas a mermaid..." he said in a low voice. "Did she ever try to drown you?" asked Chorizo.

Kinski shook his head. "No...but she alvays growled and snarled from her tank...vanting to...to eat me..." his voice faltered and he looked down at the ground. Stump's eyes widened a bit. He knew Kinski was part of a freak show, he saw one of his shows, but he didnt know Kinski lived with a mermaid...Stump had heard of freak shows and how they treated the freaks...and the legends of mermaids was all too familiar with him...how did the poor hunchback ever survive?

After a couple minutes of silence, Bill finally spoke up. "Well, we ain't leavin' till we git ourselves a lass with a fish tail," he said and began to go back to the boat and untangle his nets. Chorizo, Kinski, and Stump all exchanged shocked glances. _"What?!"_

Bill turned back to face them. "What are you three gawkin' on about? I say we go back an' get one! Can you imagine how much money we can make getting one?" he snarled Kinski shook his head. "Nein. I'm out," he said. Stump and Chorizo nodded in agreement. "Si, after what I saw. I don't think I ever want to be around large masses of water again," Chorizo admitted.

The three began to leave, but Bill grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and pulled them back to the boat. "I aint leavin' till I git a mermaid for myself! Even if you bloody chickens fight me!" Bill shouted in their ears. The three struggled, but Bill was too strong. He chucked them into the boat and jumped in after them, then kicked off toward the middle. The three tried to gang up on Bill, but it didn't work and he made them sit down.

"Let us go, Bill! We don't want to be here!" Chorizo shouted. Bill shouted back at Chorizo to pipe down, but he didn't. Stump and Kinski joined in and they all began to bicker and fight.

Suddenly, Stump stopped shouting when he felt that something was wrong. He turned his head to the waters and stiffened. "G-guys?" he asked as he turned his head. His friends were still bickering. He tried again.

"Guys?!" they still wouldnt hear him. "Guys!" he shouted. Finally, Kinski stopped and turned to Stump with a glaring face. "Vha-?" he asked, but then stopped when his eyes looked past the stumpy rabbit and saw the waters beginning to move around the boat. Kinski and Stump began to panic and tried getting their friends' attention again.

"Guys! Ze vater is movin'! Listen to me! Ze mermaids-!" suddenly, the water rose up all around the boat and the faces of mermaids with glowing red eyes appeared. Kinski and Stump screamed. Finally, Chorizo and Bill stopped and they screamed in horror at the mermaids made of water. They opened their mouths, revealing sharp teeth, then attacked the four boys in the boat. Then everything went black...

...

Stump groaned as he laid on his side. He slowly blinked his eyes open and he found himself still in the boat. He groaned as he slowly sat upright. Suddenly, a mermaid appeared next to him. "Hello, Stump," she said in a sweet voice. It was the same mermaid as before. Her tail swished in the water. Stump's eyes widened in horror and moved away from the mermaid. He tried screaming, but he felt too weak.

The mermaid smirked as she pulled him closer to her. His hands were tied behind him as his front top half was pulled more toward the edge. Stump flinched and squeezed his eyes shut. "Ok! Ok! I am convinced! I believe in mermaids! I believe in mermaids!..." he cried. The mermaid touched the sides of his face.

"Stockley...I wont hurt you...," she said. Stump shook his head, still having his eyes closed. "N-no...g-go away..." he tried to shout. "Stockley-" "N-no!" his voice raised and he tore his head away from the mermaid and opened his eyes. He gasped when he saw that Bill, Kinski and Chorizo were all being seduced by other mermaids. Kinski was the only one that seemed terrified by the mermaid he was encountering, and tried getting away, but the mermaid was strong and held him down.

"No! Leave them alone!" He screamed as he moved on his knees over to his friends and tried moving them away from the mermaids, but his hands were still tied and he couldn't do anything. He fell on his stomach, but continued to move.

"Guys! Stop looking at them! Wake up! Kinski! Chorizo-!" he screamed. Just then he felt two slender arms gently wrap around his chest and slowly lift him upright. He breathed scared, shaky breaths as the mermaid turned him around to face her. "Your friends can't hear you, Stump...in a couple minutes they will drown and be eaten by us..." she explained. The stumpy rabbit's eyes widened in horror.

"No! I wont let you!" he screamed. The mermaid smirked. "You are so cute when you are angry," she giggled, making Stump feel light headed. He shook the feeling away and tried wriggling his hands out of the ropes that bound his wrists. The mermaid lifted him up by the front of his wet vest to her eye-level.

She smiled as she lifted her webbed hand and lightly moved his dark bangs from his eyes. Stump closed his eyes, then opened them. The mermaid touched the side of his face with one of her hands, then flicked his right droopy ear.

"I'm going to enjoy eating your ears, they look so tasty," she giggled again, this time revealing her sharp teeth. Stump finally got out of the ropes that bound his wrists and shoved the mermaid away from him. The mermaid shrieked as she fell backwards in the boat. Stump quickly grabbed the nearest oar and began to bash the mermaids that had Chorizo, Kinski, and Bill.

"Git away from them!" he shouted. The mermaids shrieked and turned into the water monsters with their red eyes and attacked Stump. Stump tried fighting them off with the oar, but they grabbed it from him and tossed it into the water.

Kinski got out of his bounds, got in front of Stump, and defended him with the other oar. Stump felt arms wrap around him from behind. He struggled and kicked, but the mermaid he shoved was too strong. She slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming and shouting. Stump shook his head from side to side, but it was no use.

Kinski swung the oar violently in front of him at the mermaids. A grin ran across his face and insanity was seen in his eyes as he smacked the mermaids, but then his smile disappeared and watched as a mermaid rose out of the water, and charged him. Kinski was knocked backwards in the boat, making it rock, then grabbed by the front of his shirt. Kinski struggled, but the mermaid wrapped herself around him and began to cut off his air circulation.

Bill and Chorizo broke out of their daze and saw that Kinski and Stump were in trouble. "Go help him!" shouted Bill as he got a knife out and cut the ropes loose. When Chorizo was free, he got up and wrapped his arms around the mermaid's neck who held Kinski and pulled her away from him. Kinski gasped for air when the mermaid behind him was pulled away from him, and coughed up some water.

Chorizo fought with the mermaid till she turned into water and fell. He turned to Kinski and handed him the other oar he dropped. Kinski took it and began to bash the mermaids away.

Bill joined in and attacked the mermaids with the butts of his guns. Chorizo helped Stump, then they both used the nets to attack the mermaids, but it didn't help much since they just went right through the holes in the netting.

After a couple minutes of fighting, the water mermaids left the boat. The four stood there in the boat, wet and shaking from the cold. "A-are th-they g-g-gone?" asked Stump, shivering. Bill looked around in the waters. He couldn't tell.

Suddenly, all the water spirits of the lake rose up from the black waters. They swarmed around the two rabbits, shrew and Gila monster in the boat. The mermaids loomed over the men, baring their sharp teeth as they glared at them with their red eyes. The four cowered in fear and closed their eyes tightly, waiting for the impact.

Just then, before the mermaids could come down upon the four men and tear away at their mortal flesh, the water rippled in discomfort. Bill and his gang slowly opened their eyes when they felt that something was wrong. Instead of being impacted with a lot of water, they realized that the water spirits were shaking and shrieking in pain.

They looked up and watched as the water spirits threw their heads back and screamed a high shrill. They rippled, causing little waves, and the boat to rock. The gunslingers noticed the water faltering and beginning to not look so pitch black.

The sun began to form high into the sky. The water spirits screamed at the sight of the sun as it touched their sensitive water skin and finally blew up one by one. Droplets of water lightly sprinkled on top of the four boys and a bunch of rainbows appeared in the sky. The water made waves, making the boat rock violently, causing the four to fall into the water.

They quickly bobbed to the surface and got into the boat as fast as they could and looked around. The mermaids were gone. Kinski wrung out the ends of his long sleeve shirt and shook himself to get the water off him, getting Chorizo even more soaked and calling the rabbit a lot of insulting names in Spanish. The two began to bicker at each other in their own language. Stump slowly sighed with relief and laid down in the boat. "I'm glad that's over," he muttered in relief. Bill tossed him an oar.

"Git up, an' row the boat back to land, an' you two, stop cursing in foreign languages an' help Stump!" he shouted over to Kinski and Chorizo who were in the middle of spouting out languages even though they couldn't understand each other anyway. The three all exchanged glances to each other as Bill continued to complain.

"I'm sick of this place! The mermaids aren't the kind of mermaids I wanted, they cant last long if they just die when they touch the sun!" He screamed. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump all nodded their heads, thinking the exact same thing. They came up to Bill.

Oi!" Bill screamed as Stump, Chorizo, and Kinski shoved Bill out of the boat. Bill fell back into the water with a huge splash. Then they retrieved the remaining oar and tried getting away from the pissed off Gila monster as fast as they could.

The End!

...

 **This short, along with the others, have been in my files for quite some time and I thought it would be fun to bring them out and share with everyone :) this one was originally a "Banshee and Kinski" short, but I changed it to a "Bad Bill and Gang" short. I don't know how or why I chose "water spirits" or "mermaids that are able to liquefy" but it was fun, and this was before I made the Outlaw Confidential of Kinski and Stump where they mention mermaids. Thought it would be fun, and I find it cool to mix Western with supernatural. So, I hope you liked :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Wild Pet

**Wild Pet**

 **...**

Kinski woke up and found himself in a box. To be more specific, a cardboard box. He groaned and rubbed his screaming throbbing head. He slowly sat upright and looked around in his new environment.

"Vha…?" he asked. He winced when his head screamed in pain again. He smelled like vomit and his vision was blurry. Must've been vone rough night, he thought to himself. He had no idea how he ended up in the strange cardboard box, or why he even wound up inside it in the first place, but he knew one thing: he was dead drunk when it happened.

Stupid alcohol, he thought angrily. He didn't really mean it though. He knew he was going to go back to drinking again, he couldn't just stop himself from drinking. The alcohol was his way of forgetting the Horrors from his past, and the pain from his back. His deformed back that was always giving off sharp jolts of pain through his body.

Speak of ze devil, Kinski thought as he felt a huge wave of pain course from his back through his body. He gritted his teeth and fell on his stomach. Kinski shifted and jerked violently in pain. Just then he felt another pain. He touched his side and saw blood on his hands. He cursed in German.

Suddenly he heard a voice. A really loud voice. He gasped and stopped moving. "I think its' alive!" squealed a loud high pitch voice. Kinski covered his ears and gritted his teeth from the horrible sound. After it was done, Kinski looked up. The cardboard flaps opened up, letting in sunlight. Kinski squinted his sensitive eyes. He could feel them incinerating from the blinding light, but he strained them to look up.

Suddenly, a huge hideous face appeared from above. It was a human girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled down at him. Kinski froze. His heart started to beat fast in terror. A human! Oh no!

-He's heard of these strange giant creatures. He's heard stories from different towns that they eat rabbits and other creatures! He has also heard how they wear the furs of animals and how they mount their heads on walls!-

The insides of Kinski's stomach started to twist into thick knots.

"He's looking at me," the human girl squealed. The girl seemed around the age of five or six. "That's because he's scared," said another female human voice, but this one was more adult. Kinski felt his heart stop. There's more?! He screamed in his head.

"I think we should let him go, we all promised to let him go once he came to," said another voice. This voice was different. It was deep and booming. More like a male voice then a female voice. "But he could be sick," said the high pitch female voice.

Then the two human adults faces appeared above Kinski. "…No, he just looks scared," said the male adult. The female adult frowned. Kinski averted his eyes away from them and moved to the darkest corner of the box he could find.

"He's wearing clothes, that's very unusual," the famale adult voice said. The little girl's face stared down at the hunchback jackrabbit. "Yeah, maybe he's from the circus!" she shrilled happily. The male adult shook his head. "Highly unlikely, Amy," said the male. The little human girl, named Amy, stuck her lower lip out in a pout.

"We could drive to a vet and see if he's ok," said the female adult. The male adult gave the female adult a look. "Jennifer, we just came here from New Jersey for a new place to live, I am not going to waste my money on some poor animal we found unconscious near the side of the road," said the male firmly. Kinski's drooping ears perked up. Ze side of ze road? thought Kinski.

He must have been dragged there when he passed out from being drunk. That was one piece to the puzzle. Suddenly he heard the humans talking again. The male and female adult were arguing over whether to leave Kinski where they found him, or bring him with them to be checked on a vet.

After a couple minutes, the male adult sighed and picked up the cardboard box. Kinski fell to his side and slid to the left a bit as the box was picked up. "Then we will take him back?" asked the booming voice of the male human. The adult female nodded, but the little Amy human had her arms crossed over her pink dress and had her lower lip sticking out.

"I want to keep the bunny," she said. The female adult, now named Jennifer, smoothed Amy's long blonde hair, "I know you do honey," was all she said. The male placed the box that held the hunchback jackrabbit in the back of the car.

He looked down at Kinski. Kinski looked back up at him. "I'm sorry little buddy, I guess you are taking a ride with us," he said. With that, he gently placed the cardboard box inside the back of the car and closed the rear door. Leaving Kinski in the back, helpless.

Kinski sighed and sat in the corner of the cardboard box, hugging his knees. I hope zis is all a dream, he thought, but inside, he doubted it. Instantly, he thought of his friends: Bill, Stump, Chorizo. I vonder if zey know I'm gone, he wondered. He tried remembering what happened last night, but it was all a blur. I hope zey come an' find me, Kinski thought to himself in a small voice and buried his face in his arms.

...

"We're here," said the male adult. Amy squealed in delight. Kinski was fed up listening to the little human girl's squeal and reached for his gun. My gun! Kinski screamed in his head. His gun was gone, along with his holster and belt, leaving him completely helpless. Vhoever dragged me out in ze middle of novhere, took my gun and belt as vell…bastard, thought Kinski angrily. The rear car door opened. Kinski squeezed himself closer to the corner of the light brown box.

Amy's grinning face appeared. Kinski sneered. Amy didn't see it as she grabbed the box and started to bounce along the steps to the Animal Hospital. Kinski felt himself fall forward from his corner and jerked violently around. He tried grabbing on to something, but there was nothing to grab in the box.

"Careful honey! You may give him a heart attack!" shrieked Jennifer as she quickly rushed over to Amy and stopped her from bouncing. Kinski placed a hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting. The world was spinning, and he felt nauseous. Jennifer took the box from Amy and kept it level. Jennifer looked down in the box at Kinski. Kinski curled up into a ball and averted his eyes away from her.

Suddenly, he felt something run across his hump. His head jerked up and twisted around. Jennifer lightly ran her long thin fingers gently over his deformity. "Strange, he has a hump," she said. Kinski curved around and lashed a hand at her. Jennifer shrieked and almost dropped the box.

"Jenny? What's wrong?" asked the male as he came over to her. Jennifer took a couple of deep breaths and calmed down. "He attacked me," she said. The male gave her a glare. "Don't pet him, he's wild. Possibly a rabid animal," the male said and took the box from his wife.

The little female Amy giggled. "Daddy, he is a rabbit," she said. The male shook his head. "Ra-bid, not rab-bit," pronounced the male. Then the three walked single file into the vet's office.

Kinski got up from his place and moved back to his corner again. He looked up and saw that he was inside a white room with pictures of dogs and cats. It scared him. They were all naked, revealing their fur, and were on four legs. Their blank expressions seemed clueless and stupid. A horrible feeling crawled around inside Kinski's stomach.

Vhat if ze humans are gonna strip me naked an' make me stupvid? Vhat if zey're gonna keep me in a cage? Vhat if-?! Suddenly, Kinski's thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly heard the sound of a huge creature sniffing the outside of the box. Kinski quickly moved to the other side of the box.

Kinski's eyes went up and he was face to face with a huge black dog. The dog's nose went into the box and started sniffing him. "Hey! Git!" yelled the male human. The dog barked, making Kinski jump and almost have a heart attack. Kinski quickly moved away to the other side of the box.

The dog barked again and lurched forward for Kinski. Kinski felt the hot breath of the dog and screamed. He tried clawing up the wall of the cardboard box but it was no use. The three humans and the owner of the dog quickly grabbed the black dog before it could eat Kinski. The box tipped over the side and crashed to the hard floor. Kinski ignored the pain in his arms and booked it. He ran on all fours and ran toward the door. Zis is it! I'm getting' out of 'ere! he screamed in his head excitedly.

Suddenly, a pair of huge human hands gripped Kinski's sides and pulled him up. "No!" screamed Kinski, his arms and legs dangling in mid air. He thrashed and jerked violently. He screamed and swore.

"Goodness! This one's a handful! Miss Dawson! Get me something to knock this creature out!" yelled the new male voice that held Kinski. The owner of the dog pulled the dog out by the leash and left the vet. The human family of three turned and saw the male vet struggle with Kinski.

"What are you gonna do to him?" asked Amy with huge worried eyes. The vet grunted and pinned Kinski's arms down to his sides. "We -ug! Are gonna! …hold still!- give him a drug to - erk!-knock him out!" grunted the vet. Kinski whipped his head to the left and right and kicked his legs.

"Let me go you stupid human!" screamed Kinski. Of course, the humans couldn't understand him. Just then, Miss Dawson came in with a needle filled with a sickly yellow liquid. The male vet moved over to a table and with one hand pinned Kinski's arms down, and with the other, pinned Kinski's legs down. "Hurry!" screamed the vet. Instantly, Miss Dawson injected the drug into Kinski.

Kinski yelped and then stopped moving. The male vet sighed and slowly let go of Kinski. "Whew! For one small little guy, he sure is feisty!" said the male vet. Kinski's body suddenly went numb, his eyes started to get heavy, best of all he couldn't feel his hump sending off jolts of pain. Then Kinski closed his eyes and was knocked out…

Kinski's mind wandered and slipped in and out of consciousness. Slowly, his mind focused and his other senses as well. His nose twitched and sniffed the air. The air smelled like other animals, particularly dog. His hearing was somewhat deaf. He heard voices, but they were muffled. Slowly his hearing sharpened and he heard the voices more clearly.

"Do you think he will be ok?" asked a voice. "Yes, he'll be fine, they wont hurt him, they are just going to look at him and see if he has any problems," said another voice. I must be back in Dirt, thought Kinski. Bill is talking to Stump an' Chorizo..zey found me knocked out, the humans finding me vas all a bad dream, thought Kinski happily.

Kinski's vision was the last to finally focus and become limpid. He groaned and found himself laying face down. He controlled his arms to wake up and lift himself up. As he did, something felt different. He blinked and looked down at his arms. They were bare. Kinski's eyes widened. "No!" he screamed and went up on his hind legs. His clothes were gone. Kinski shrunk down on all fours. Feeling very exposed and uncomfortable.

"He's up!" yelled a loud high pitch voice behind him. Kinski stiffened. Oh no! I'm still in hell! Kinski screamed. He twisted around and found himself face to face with the human family that found him alongside the road. He realized he was in a different room now in the pet hospital. It was smaller and had white walls. He also noticed that he was on a table. Kinski felt the tips of his ears grow hot. He felt very humiliated.

"Don't scare him Amy, he just woke up from the drug," said the male human. Amy stopped and pouted at the male adult. "I'm not scaring him, I just wanna pet him," she said as she turned back to Kinski. "No Amy, he may attack you," said Jennifer as she grabbed Amy and placed the little human girl on her lap. "Mommy! No!" screamed the little girl as she struggled in her mom's lap.

Kinski took the chance to flee. He quickly bolted the opposite direction of the humans. Kinski turned back to see if the humans saw him escaping. Suddenly Kinski was suspended in mid air. He turned back and realized he was in the hands of the male vet again. "Oh no you don't little buddy, you aren't going to escape again!" snarled the male vet as he pulled him back to the middle of the table.

Kinski cursed and struggled in the vet's grip. The vet pinned the jackrabbit's arms down against his sides. Kinski kicked but it was no use. The vet lifted Kinski up and studied him. The male vet ran his fingers along his bare furry hump, his head, and his chest. The male vet carefully squeezed Kinski's arms and rubbed his dirty little paws. Kinski struggled again, but the vet tightened his grip. The male vet ran a finger down Kinski's feet and rubbed them as well. Then the male vet held Kinski's head and examined his face. Kinski's eyes darted everywhere in fear and then back at the vet. The male vet examined his eyes, his ears, and the inside of his mouth.

Kinski snapped and tried biting the male vet's hand. "No! don't you dare!" snapped the male vet firmly as he gripped the top of Kinski's hair and pulled it back. Kinski shifted uncomfortably, but couldn't break free. The vet carefully opened Kinski's mouth and examined the jackrabbit's rotting teeth. "Hmmmm…" thought the male vet.

Then he let go of Kinski's face and held him in a different position. Kinski moved his lower jaw around and ran his tongue over his rotting teeth. The male vet turned to the human family. "There is nothing wrong with this jackrabbit, but there are a couple of strange things about him that baffle me… where did you guys say you found him?" asked the male vet. Kinski twisted his head over to the human family.

"We found him alongside the road outside of this town," said the male adult. The vet nodded and looked down at Kinski. Kinski looked up at the vet, gave him a glare and looked away. "What's strange about him?" asked the female adult. The vet moved his gaze from Kinski and then to Jennifer. "Oh, it's nothing really, but…this antelope jackrabbit, looks like a different type of breed. I think his species is foreign... I have no idea how he could've wound up out there in the middle of nowhere," said the vet. The family stared at the vet, then to Kinski.

The male vet continued, "Also, did you find him with clothes on?" he asked. The three humans nodded. "Yeah! I think he's from the circus!" said Amy excitedly. The male vet shrugged. "Maybe, but I highly doubt that, he is a pretty small rabbit, and those clothes are way too small for any person to make them like that...He could be an evolved creature..." he said. he thought for a minute, then laughed. "But that's just crazy talk! an evolving rabbit!" the vet laughed.

Kinski flinched uncontrollably. Amy grinned, "Woah! Cool! We have a crazy bunny! Can we keep him?" asked the little human girl. Jennifer gave her male partner a silent plead and smiled. The male adult glared at the two females. "He's a wild creature! We should let him go," he said angrily.

Then he turned to the male vet for help. The vet averted his eyes away, and moved to the other end of the room where a cage awaited. He struggled with Kinski as he placed him in, and closed the metal cage door and locked it. He lifted up the cage by the handle and gave the cage to the male adult.

"It's best to maybe watch over him for a while," said the vet. The male adult stared down at the cage for a minute before finally accepting the cage. He turned to the two females behind him. They grinned happily.

The male adult sighed and rolled his eyes. Then he lifted the cage to his eye level and looked at Kinski. "Welcome to the family, little buddy," the male said half heartedly. Kinski felt his heart stop in horror. The male adult sighed and lowered the cage. After the male adult paid for the visit, the family walked out of the animal hospital to the car. Kinski curled up into a ball and hugged his bare legs.

"His clothes are in his cage," said the vet before he waved goodbye and went back in the office. Kinski lifted his head up and looked around the inside of his small kennel cage. He found his clothes, wrinkled up and crammed into the corner of the cage as if they shared Kinski's fear.

Kinski moved on all fours over to his clothes and quickly got back into them. Inside one of his pockets, he found his jacks. He fished them out and rolled them around in the palm of his left hand. The sound of the metal jacks clinking against each other soothed him. He sat back down and fumbled with his jacks as he thought of his friends that he was never going to see again. He stopped playing with his jacks and buried his face in his arms. His cage was placed in the back of the car. After a couple of seconds, Kinski heard the car purr and come to life and move away from the animal hospital, and even further away from his home.

Kinski bumped against the side of his cage. He sighed sadly and shook his head. The car made a sharp turn, making Kinski roll and bump against the other side of the cage. He regained his balance and rubbed his deformity angrily. Just then, the humans started talking:

"I think we should name our bunny!" said the little Amy human happily. Clapping her hands excitedly. Kinski slowly got up and walked over to the front of the cage. He gripped the cold crossing metal bars of the cage and listened in to the humans' conversation.

"I don't want us to get attached to the rabbit," said the male adult angrily as he kept on driving. Jennifer gave her male partner a playful shove. "Oh come on Bob, it'll be fun!" said Jennifer. The male, now named Bob, grumbled. Amy clapped her small hands again and squealed a high shrill. Kinski winced and clamped his hands over his drooping ears.

"How about Bunny!" she said. Kinski felt his jaw drop and his stomach twist. "Oh God..." he muttered in disgust. Jennifer turned her head to the back and looked at her younger daughter. "I don't really like that name for a rabbit, too plain and is used a lot," she said. Amy crossed her arms over her pink dress angrily and slumped in her car seat.

"How about Cutie Pie?" offered the female adult giggling. Kinski's eyes widened and felt himself wanting to vomit. Bob, gave Jennifer a look. "It's a he, dear, the rabbit's a he, and I don't think that's a boy name," said Bob and turned his eyes back to the road. Kinski nodded his head. "Jes! Listen to him!" he screamed. Vait, vhat are you doing? Don't support zem naming you! You are Kinski! zat's it! Kinski's head screamed. Haha! Cutie Pie does fit you, said another voice in his head. Kinski struck himself upside the head to shut up the voices.

Jennifer's soft brown eyes looked down into her lap. "It could be," she said softly. Bob rolled his eyes, "He's not even cute, he looks a bit on the off side, like as if a car just ran over him," said Bob. Kinski sneered, "You don't look zat bad yerself," muttered Kinski sarcastically.

Amy suddenly started to bounce up and down in her car seat excitedly. "How about Peter Cottontail! that's a boys name!" she squealed excitedly.

"Bob, dear, why don't you try and offering some names to our little friend?" asked Jennifer. "Yeah Daddy! Help us name the bunny!" screamed the human girl. Kinski clamped his hands over his ears again. Ug! I'll let you name me anzyzin', jus' fer ze love of God, kill ze human brat! Kinski screamed in his head.

Bob shook his head. "I didn't want us to keep this creature in the first place, just because we found it alongside the road, doesn't mean we keep it. His last owners must have gotten rid of him for a good reason," Bob said and made a right turn. Kinski gripped the bars tightly but felt his legs slide to the left.

Jennifer looked out the window and thought for a minute. "Well, maybe we can name him after some famous hunchbacks, since he is one himself," she said. Kinski gripped the bars tightly till his knuckles went white.

Amy began to jump up and down again, "Like Quasi…something! from the hunchback of Notre Dame!" she squealed. "Quasimodo," corrected Bob. Kinski regained his balance and looked up. Other hunchbacks? Zere are ozer hunchbacks? thought Kinski.

"Or Igor, the assistant of Dr. Frankenstein," Jennifer said. Bob smirked. "I love that movie," he said. Amy looked at her parents quizzically, "Igor?" she asked. "It's a scary monster movie, I don't know if you are old enough to see it, dear," said Jennifer. Amy turned her head to the back and looked down at Kinski in his cage. "Igor?" she asked him. Kinski sneered and stuck his tongue out. "…No, I don't think the bunny likes that name," said Amy, as she slid back down into her seat.

Bob slowed the car down, he sighed and finally offered. "Wild, the hunchback from Sergio Leone's For A Few Dollars More." Jennifer beamed. "Oh I remember that movie, you took me to go see it on our first date," the female adult said and rested her head against her husbands shoulder. Kinski blanched and stuck his tongue out.

Amy started jumping up and down in her seat. "I like that name!" she said. Bob sighed, "Ok, his name is Wild," he confirmed. "Wild!" screamed Amy to Kinski. Kinski jumped and looked up at Amy. Amy beamed. "He loves his name!" she screamed happily. Kinski let go of the bars and slowly made his way to the back of the cage, in the shadows.

The ride was quiet for a while, until Jennifer broke the silence. "You know, Wild actually does fit our new friend, because I remember how the rabbit got apprehensive when I ran my hand over his hump, and I remember that the Wild character was very sensitive about his hump too," she explained. Bob thought about it for a minute, then nodded.

Finally he turned to the right again and slowed up the driveway of their house and stopped. He turned off the engine and pulled out the car keys. "Here we are, and the movers are already here too," he noticed. Amy squealed excitedly and jumped out of the car. Jennifer followed after her. "Here we are, bunny!" Amy screamed, then she opened the door of the cage. Kinski pressed himself against the wall of the kennel cage. Amy frowned.

"He's not coming out," she said, lifting her face from the opening of the cage and to her mom. Kinski made his chance and bolted out of the cage, off the car and down the driveway. Jennifer shrieked and quickly tried grabbing him. Kinski swerved out of the way and kept running. Suddenly, Kinski felt something cover him. Darkness enveloped him.

"I got him!" yelled a voice from above Kinski. Kinski felt a pair of hands on the outside of the material that enveloped him, grip his sides. Kinski growled and began to struggle. "Oh! Thank you sir, that was very quick thinking with that blanket," said Jennifer as she came rushing over. Kinski struggled in the blanket. The man lifted the blanket that held Kinski and followed Jennifer into the house.

"Where do you want me to put him?" asked the man. Kinski's arms and legs started to get sore from struggling, then went limp. "Put him in here," said Jennifer. Kinski felt the man carry him over to where the female human wanted to put him. The blanket loosened around him and he found himself inside an old terrarium that may have once held a poor reptile.

The glass cage was three feet long and two feet high, too high for him to try and escape. He looked around in his new habitat. Shades of brown, gravel sand covered the ground. There was a fake jungle of leaves and a long wooden log. To the right of it were two empty dishes. One was filled with water, the other was empty. Suddenly, Kinski felt Jennifer's long, thin fingers lightly scratch the sides of his ears. Kinski instantly froze.

Jennifer smiled from behind him. "You like that, don't you?" she said. Kinski's fingers twitched at his sides. It was a strange feeling, he has never been scratched behind his ears before... he liked it. He somewhat felt relaxed and nudged his head closer to her fingers, allowing her to scratch behind his long droopy ears. Jennifer smiled again and kept scratching. Kinski grinned and closed his eyes.

"Mommy! Can you help me with this?" asked Amy from the other room. "Oh! Yes! I'm coming honey," Jennifer called back, instantly getting up and rushing to where Amy was. Right when Jennifer stopped scratching Kinski, Kinski felt himself falling. He did a faceplant in the ground. He lifted his head up angrily and spat a couple of little gravel rocks out of his mouth.

...

Night came. Amy came into the living room where Kinski was held prisoner. "Here you go, Wildy! Mommy cutted up some carrots for you!" she squealed happily and dropped some into the dish that was empty. Kinski sat in one of the dark corners of his glass prison. Amy watched him for a minute. "Go on, you can eat," she said. Kinski didn't budge.

"Amy! Dinner! Stop pestering Wild and come to the table!" called her mom. Amy huffed. "Fine! I'm coming!" she called back. She turned back to Kinski. "Bye Wildy!" she said and bounded away. Kinski sneered. Then he glared over at the food dish. Kinski's stomach growled. Kinski shook his head angrily and averted his eyes away.

No! yer not eatin' ze food! he snarled in his head. Then he glanced over at the food again. He hesitated. His stomach growled again. Kinski took his time crawling on all fours cautiously over to the food dish. He looked through the glass to see if any of the humans were around. Then he grabbed a piece of sliced carrot the size of his hand and scurried back to his dark corner. He chewed the piece of carrot down greedily.

The slice of carrot was delicious and fresh. He had never tasted anything like it before. Nothing was this good back in the town of Dirt. Everything thing there tasted like...dirt. Kinski licked his fingers happily and then looked over at the huge pile of orange carrots again. He was still hungry. This time, he walked on his hind legs cautiously and approached the food dish. He took an armful of the chopped carrots and walked back to his corner once more. He feasted on the delicious slices.

Zis ain't so bad, I guess, Kinski thought as he shoved another piece of carrot in his mouth. He nibbled the edges of one piece for a while before just shoving the whole thing into his mouth. When he was done with his pile he leaned the side of his head against the clear pane of glass happily.

Suddenly he spotted something at the corner of his eye. It was his reflection. He stared at his reflection. What was he doing? He wasn't a pet. He didn't belong to anyone. He wasn't an animal, living in a place of luxury, he was a gunslinger, a member of a gang of outlaws from the town of Dirt.

A nervous disfigured rabbit stared back at him. Leave, you don't belong here…a voice said in his head. Another voice snorted in his head, Don't make me laugh! You fine vhere you are! Zere's food! You don't 'ave to do anzyzing anzymore, jus' eat and sleep. No vorries at all...Kinski reached up and touched the cold glass. His sad reflection did the same. He looked at the reflection, then at his furry hand. His reflection did the same. Kinski felt his stomach twist and he lightly touched the glass with his forehead.

Just then, The family came in. Kinski moved away from the glass and turned his focus to the human family. "Hi Wildy! Oh look, mommy! He ate!" said Amy excitedly, pointing to his touched food dish. Her mom smiled, "That's good," she said. Bob just sat down at the couch and turned on the T.V. The two females watched Kinski sit in the corner of his home, while Bob watched football.

An hour later, Jennifer picked up the tired Amy and carried her to her new room. "Goodnight, Wildly," said Amy in a small whisper. Bob turned and said goodnight to Amy, but she didn't say anything back. Bob turned to Kinski and frowned. He slumped down in his chair. Then Jennifer came back and sat next to Bob. Bob sunk lower in his chair.

"We should've left that rabbit where we found it," he grumbled angrily. Jennifer gave Bob a stern look, "Don't be jealous," she said. Bob frowned. "I'm not jealous of a stupid rabbit," he snapped. Kinski watched the conversation from his glass home. Both of his hands and pink twitching nose pressed against the glass. Jennifer placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, "Let Amy have her new pet, it has been real hard for her these past couple of months...with the psychiatrists and the medications..."

Bob sighed "All right, fine, I'll let Amy have her fun with her new pet," he said, looking over at his wife. Jennifer smiled and gave Bob a kiss. Kinski turned away in disgust. Then Bob turned off the T.V. The adults got up out of their chairs and started walking out. Jennifer slowly reached in and scratched Kinski behind the ear before leaving. Bob looked down at Kinski. Kinski looked up at him. Then Bob turned out the lights in the room, and Kinski was left in the dark...

Kinski sighed and felt tears come to his eyes. His friends didn't care. He was going to be a pet for the rest of his life.

...

Tap, tap, tap

Kinski groaned and shifted in his little curled up position. His horrible nightmare was interrupted (thankfully) from that strange tapping noise. Tap, Tap, Tap. Kinski's ears twitched at the sound. Tap, Tap, Tap. "Mmph, Wha?" he groaned again and lifted his head and blinked his tired eyes. Everything was a blur.

Kinski rubbed his eyes and blinked again. This time, the image slowly came into focus. Then he saw what was making that infernal tapping.

He stared at Stump and Chorizo on the other side of the glass, then rested his head back down. I'm dreaming…He thought. "Kinski," he heard Stump call. Kinski lifted his head once again.

"Kinski," Stump called again. Kinski just stared at them with tired red eyes. Then he finally got up and staggered over to where she stood. He pressed his hands on the glass. "Are you real?" he asked. Chorizo blinked "Of course we're real!" he said.

"Shh!" Stump shushed and and placed his finger over his lips. "We 'ave come to save ya, K," Stump said. Kinski blinked. They came to save him? Kinski couldnt help but to smile, then narrowed his eyes a bit in confusion. "How?" he asked. Stump scaled the glass.

"Um...hold on, maybe I can climb up 'ere and..." Stump's voice trailed off as he stared up at the huge glass terrarium. "Um...do you have any rope?" he asked. Kinski stared at him. Stump sighed.

"Right then," he said.

Chorizo and Kinski watched as Stump scaled the glass "wall" before jumping and trying to climb up. Chorizo rolled his eyes as he pulled out his gun and shot the glass. The glass shattered. Stump yelped and jumped out of the way.

"Oh...right. I was going to say we should shoot the glass," Stump said as he rubbed the back of his head. Kinski and Chorizo exchanged glances before rolling their eyes. Kinski jumped over the shattered glass on the ground and began to run, followed by Stump and Chorizo.

Kinski stopped at the edge of the table, then got bumped from behind by Stump. Kinski yelped and began to flail his arms to keep from falling. Stump and Chorizo grabbed his arms and pulled him back from the edge of the table and looked down.

Stump whistled, but then was shushed by Chorizo. "How did we get past this one again?" he asked in a whisper to Chorizo. Chorizo looked around. Then he pointed over to a potted plant. We got over by using the long leaves to climb across," he said. Stump, Kinski and Chorizo walked over to the plant.

The plant's stems drooped low from the weight of the flower and went down like an arched bridge. Kinski went on first and climbed over, then Stump and then Chorizo. Just as they climbed all the way over and were about to jump through the open window to outside, they heard something. It sounded like a page being turned.

The three animals both froze when they saw the male human. Kinski felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at Bob. Bob looked back at Kinski. He sat in one of the couches, in his hands, he held a motorcycle magazine. 'ow long 'as he been zere? wondered Kinski. The three stared back at him, not moving. Bob stared back at them calmly, not moving. Wasn't he going to get them? Or at least attempt to?

Bob didn't move, he just stared back at them with slight interest, but no sudden movements or tensed muscles to try and catch them. Kinski slowly leaned his head down to his short friends. "Is ok, he's good, he doesn't vant me 'ere," he said.

Suddenly, they heard Jennifer's voice in the other room, asking about Wild/Kinski. Stump and Chorizo quickly snapped out of their frozen state, grabbed Kinski by the arms, and they all jumped out the window.

Bob went back to reading his motorcycle magazine, "Yes dear, he just left with a rat and a rabbit wearing clothes," he said, as if he has seen that a hundred times. Jennifer and Amy came rushing in.

"What?! You're joking, daddy," said Amy. Bob didn't say a thing and kept reading his magazine. Jennifer gave Bob a look. "Oh Bob, what nonsense. Come on Amy, Wild is bound to turn up soon," she said. Amy beamed and started calling out Kinski's borrowed name. "Wild! Wildy! Come out!" she called.

Bob just smiled from behind his magazine.

...

As Kinski, Stump and Chorizo began to walk back to Dirt, Kinski turned to his friends. "Erm...zanks..." he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. Chorizo smirked to his tall friend. "No problem, amigo. Gotta look out for each other." Stump nodded in agreement. "No matter how many times you drive us nuts," he said. Kinski laughed and walked happily with his friends into the desert with the moon illuminating the way home.

The End!

...

 **Amy is Nina, the girl who was trapped as a prisoner and called the 'chupacabra' in Chorizo's story. Once she escaped, she was found by people and brought back to humans and once she began to slowly get back to sanity, she was adopted by Jennifer and Bob.**


	6. Chapter 6: Fountain of Youth

**Fountain of Youth**

...

Kinski woke up with a small headache. He groaned and slowly sat upright. Just as he did, he got soaked. Kinski screamed in surprise and opened his eyes. Stump loomed over him with an empty pitcher in his hands. He had a mischievous grin on his face. "Now we're even," he said and tossed the pitcher to the drenched hunchback jackrabbit, hitting him in the chest. Kinski snarled and got up.

"You idiot!" he roared and chased after Stump. Stump bolted, but didn't get very far as he crashed into Bill. The Gila monster and short jackrabbit both crashed to the ground. Kinski stopped in time. He pulled Stump up and punched him in the face. Stump fell back down on top of Bill. Finally, Bill shoved Stump off and grabbed the two rabbits by their ears. "What the hell is going on?!" he yelled. Kinski started to fight, but yelped when Bill yanked his ear.

"He drenched me!" shouted Kinski and pointed to Stump. Bill noticed the soaking wet hunchback jackrabbit. Stump snarled. "You deserved it! You doused me in orange sauce! I was chased by a two story coyote! Took me forever to wash the stuff off!" Stump yelled. Kinski began to snicker. "Zat vas funny," he said.

"No it wasn't, you bastard!" yelled Stump. Bill yanked the rabbits' ears back. Making them yelp and move away from each other as well. "Quit this bickerin,' you bloats! Do I have to separate you two like little kids?!" he asked. Kinski and Stump went quiet. They glared at each other. "I thought as much," Bill said as he let go of them.

As he did, Stump lunged himself at Kinski. Bill cursed angrily. Kinski and Stump rolled around in the dirt, kicking and punching each other. "Freak!" yelled Stump and grabbed a fistful of Kinski's disheveled blonde hair. "Short bastard!" yelled Kinski and kicked Stump in the gut.

This time, Bill grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and hoisted them up off the ground. He shoved Stump one way across the room, and Kinski the other way. "Stop this! Now stay put! If I see you two at it again, I wont hesitate to shoot ya's in the head!" he yelled. With that, he stormed off, just as he did, he ran into Chorizo.

"Watch them," he said. Chorizo gave the Gila Monster a confused look. "Que?" he asked, but Bill already walked away. Choizo looked over into the other room and saw Kinski and Stump. Stump and Kinski glared at each other from across the room. Suddenly, Chorizo stepped in front of their glaring zone.

"Buenos dias senores, Que pasa?" He asked. Kinski stared up at the shrew with a blank expression on his face. Stump sneered. "Kinski and I got into a little... disagreement…" he said. Chorizo nodded. "I see," he said. Kinski rolled his eyes and pulled out his jacks.

Chorizo looked at Kinski, then at Stump, who crossed his arms over his chest and watched Kinski fumble with his game. "Ya know, little girls play with jacks, Kinks," Stump pointed out. Kinski growled a low growl, but didn't look up.

...

Later on, The two adult rabbits went on their own ways. Without knowing which way the other was going, they both decided to go get a drink at the Gas Can Saloon in Dirt. Kinski's eyes widened when he saw Stump already sitting at the bar.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath. He straightened himself up as much as he could and walked through the bat winged doors. The rusty fan screeched and sighed over head. Kinski sat on the opposite end, away from Stump and ordered a drink.

After a couple minutes, Stump finally got off his stool and left the bar. Kinski drained his glass and followed right behind him. When the two were outside; Kinski lunged toward Stump. The two rolled over on top of each other and out to the middle of the dirt road.

Stump kicked and flailed his arms, but it was no use. Kinski shoved the stumpy rabbit's face deep into the ground. "Eat dirt, you little ass!" Kinski screamed. Finally, Stump jabbed Kinski with his elbow, making the hunchback jackrabbit fall off him. Stump raised his head, gasping for air. Kinski quickly got up, and was about to tackle Stump again, but was too slow. Both of them were too busy fighting each other, they didn't see a little puddle of water in the middle of the road. It was the hottest day of the year, and the little puddle of water sat there.

Stump got up and lunged. As they did, the little spittle of water from the hole in the ground erupted. The two fell on top of it and were drizzled in the cool water. The dirt fight became a mud fight. Kinski screamed in pain as he landed on his deformity. He shoved Stump off and rolled over. Stump regained his balance and started to make a mudball.

Kinski gasped and breathed heavily. His hump giving off jolts of pain. Suddenly something smacked the side of his face. Mud. Kinski turned his head and growled. Stump was already making more mudballs. Kinski scooped up a bunch of mud and approached Stump. He grabbed the back of his head and shoved the glob of mud into his face. Stump, with his face in the mud, forced a bunch of mud into Kinski's face. The brutal fighting continued. Finally, the sheriff arrived at the scene and separated them.

"What is wrong with you two?" he asked as he handcuffed them. Kinski turned his head away. Stump did the same. They didn't say anything as they were both led away to the jail. Still caked with mud, the two sat in their own cells. They stayed on the opposite sides of their cells, far away from each other. Stump picked at the dirt on his vest and hair.

Later on, the sheriff came by and gave them their plates of food. When he turned his head, Kinski chewed a mouthful of food and spat it at Stump. Stump shouted a couple insulting words and ran up to the bars, clawing the air to Kinski's face. "Do that again and I'll claw yer face off, you freak!" yelled Stump. Kinski laughed his insane laugh and moved away as he stuck his tongue out. The sheriff turned back around and glared at the two jackrabbits.

"You two better stop it right now! I don't know what has gotten into you two, but this is getting a little out of hand!" The two stopped and turned their heads to the sheriff, surprised he actually raised his voice at them.

Stump snarled. "We don't have to listen to ya!" he shouted. The sheriff rolled his eyes. "Fine, then I'll just keep you two in 'ere till ya guys behave," he said, then left. Kinski and Stump exchanged glances. Gradually their eyebrows furrowed. Kinski slowly placed his plate of food down on the ground and laid down on his cot bed. Stump did the same, and they both fell fast asleep…

Next morning…

Kinski woke up to Stump screaming. Kinski lifted his groggy head from his cot bed and looked over at him. Hhe was about to yell something insulting to the short rabbit but stopped. His eyes widened. Stump wasn't there. Instead of a short, overweight white muzzled adult jackrabbit, it was a small, fat, white muzzled jackrabbit. A young jackrabbit. Kinski stared in shock and confusion. The young boy looked like Stump. He wore Stump's clothes, but they were a bit big on him. The white hat kept slipping over the boy's eyes.

Then, the boy turned to Kinski. His eyes widened in horror and he screamed as well. Kinski gave him a quizzical look. "Vhat?" he asked, except his voice came out high pitched. Kinski clamped a furry hand over his mouth. When he did, he noticed something was wrong. He looked down at his hand. It was small! He looked down at himself. He shrunk! His clothes were huge and laid around him like a blanket. He got out of his cot bed, but tripped over his over sized baggy clothes. Kinski started to panic.

"Vh-Vhat happened?" he asked in his high pitched German accent. Stump began to scream in a high pitch voice. "I don't know! How should I know?! Why don't you explain why we shrunk?!" Kinski narrowed his eyes. "Don't git all angry at me!" Stump snarled. "This is all your fault!" he yelled. Kinski's mouth dropped open.

"My fault?! How could zis be my fault? I vasn't ze one who made us like zis!" he yelled. Stump glared. "Then what made us like this, Sherlock?" he asked angrily. Kinski bared his teeth. "How should I-" suddenly, Kinski stopped. Stump stopped baring his small teeth. "What?" he asked. Kinski thought for a moment. "Zat vater…vhen ve vere fightin'…" Kinski pondered over it for a while. Stump still didn't get where the hunchback jackrabbit was going with it.

Before he could ask, the sheriff appeared. His eyes widened at the two boys in the cell. "Wha-? How did you…?" he asked. Stump and Kinski turned. Before they could say anything, the sheriff pulled out his keys and unlocked the cell doors. "I am so sorry, boys. If I was here earlier, I would've known you were in there," Stump and Kinski exchanged confused glances. The sheriff didn't know it was them, he thought they were boys that got exchanged with "Stump and Kinski."

"Sheriff-" started Stump. The sheriff picked Stump up. "Hey! wait-!" he said, but the sheriff interrupted him. "Don't tell anyone that this happened ok? Now, do you boys know where those gunslingers went?" he asked. Stump hesitated for a minute. Not sure whether to tell the sheriff their predicament, or play along…

"Uh…zey vent zat vay, sheriff," piped up the small Kinski, pointing over out into the desert as he walked out of his cell (or tried because of his long, over-sized shirt). The sheriff smiled. He set Stump down and patted the top of Kinski's head.

"Thank you, son, much obliged, here," he said and handed the small German rabbit a piece of jerky. Then the sheriff left the jail. Kinski and Stump exchanged glances again. "That was weird," said Stump. Kinski nodded and tossed the piece of dried meat over his shoulder. "Ve 'ave to git back to our normal size, jes?" he said. Stump nodded. "Yes," he agreed.

The two boys left the jail. Kinski had to lift up the ends of his oversized shirt and pants. He cursed a couple times and tripped. "I can't do zis! Vhy did I 'ave to be back in my six year old body!" he screamed. Stump stopped. "Six years old?" he asked. Kinski nodded and got up. "Jes-"

Stump laughed. "Oh my God! You are short for a six year old!" Stump laughed as he came up to young Kinski. He only came up just under Stump's chin. Kinski was very small compared to Stump's young body. Kinski crossed his arms and looked away angrily.

"At least I vasn't overveight vhen I vas born!" he snapped and nodded to Stump's big stomach. Even though Stump was taller then him, he was bigger around the middle, and chubby in the face. Stump narrowed his eyes angrily. "Are you callin' me fat?!" he snarled. Kinski kept himself from smirking and decided to change the subject.

"I zink ve 'ave encountered ze fountain of youth," he explained. Stump stared at him blankly.

"What?" he asked. Kinski sighed and dropped his arms. "Ze fountain! Vhere you turn young again if you bathe in it, or drink it. You heard zis story, jes?" he asked. Stump shook his head, still confused.

"What fountain, there's no fountain here-" "Ze vater, you idiot!" Kinski shouted. Stump was about to call Kinski something insulting but stopped himself when he realized what the little hunchback was saying. He remembered the water.

"You mean that weird trickle of water from that hole in the ground near the entrance of Dirt?" he asked. Kinski nodded. "My caretaker, Miz Jitters, alvays told ze orphans a story. I remember ze one about ze fountain…never thought it vould jus' be hole in ze ground," he said with disappointment.

"What else is there about this fountain?" asked Stump, lifting his hat up again. Kinski shrugged. "All I know is zat it makes people young. No one 'as ever found it…and if you do...you are young forever," he said. Stump thought for a minute.

Finally, he looked up at Kinski. "So, what do we do now?" he asked. Kinski shrugged again. "No idea. I vas hoping, maybe ve could go back to ze water, and pozibly figure out a vay to turn back to adults," he said. Stump frowned. "But you said the water only turns people young. How are we-"

"I don't know!" yelled Kinski in his high pitched voice. Some citizens turned their heads to the oddly familiar boys. Kinski sneered at them. "Vhat-?" but was interrupted when Stump slapped a hand over his mouth. "Brother, be nice," he said and led Kinski away.

Kinski tripped over his clothes a couple times. He struggled in Stump's grasp. Finally, Stump stopped in an allyway area in the shadows, away from everyone else. "Vhat ze hell-?" started Kinski but Stump placed his hand over the young hunchback's mouth again. "Shush! I'm sorry I had to do that, but you can't start screaming and yelling like that," Stump said. Kinski narrowed his huge kid eyes. "And vhy not?" he asked.

"If people find out that we turned into our child like selves, we'll be the laughing stock of the town," he said. Kinski sneered. "Oh, so you vant us to go around and play with all ze other little brats?" he asked. Stump sighed. "We have to act our part, just when people are around. Just until we figure out how to to turn back. It's the only way to keep our dignity safe," he said. Kinski sighed and looked down. He lifted his hand, which was covered by his long sleeve. "Zen, ve better find more… fitting clothes, jes?" he asked. Stump nodded.

...

The two walked down the street to the general store. Stump looked around the store. Mr. Furgus wasn't in. Stump motioned his hand for the hunchback boy to come where he was. Kinski did.

The overweight young jackrabbit and the small hunchback rabbit boy walked to the back of the store. Kinski tried reaching up to a pair of jeans, but he was just out of reach of them. Stump snickered and scooted the small hunchabck boy aside. Kinski narrowed his eyes and looked away.

Stump grinned. "Who's overweight now?" Stump said as he tossed Kinski the pair of jeans, his size. Kinski sneered and pulled them on. "You still are, you idiot," he muttered bitterly. Then he tossed the orange jumpsuit and longsleeve dark blue shirt aside and pulled on a grey longsleeve shirt, just his size.

Stump did the same, but still kept his hat and yellow bandana around his neck. Right when they were about to leave, Mr. Furgus appeared. He eyed the boys. "Oh! Hello boys, did ya find anything?" he asked. The two rabbits didn't say anything and left the general store.

When they were out, Kinski stopped and turned to Stump.

"Ok, ve got our clothes, now can ve go to ze spit of vater?" Kinski asked. Stump nodded, but got sidetracked when he noticed the saloon. He licked his lips. "Let's git a drink first…then we'll go to the water thing," he said. Kinski eyed the saloon. Instantly, he felt thirsty too.

He sighed and followed the jackrabbit into the saloon. Buford eyed the boys as they came into the saloon and climbed up on the two stools that sat in front of the bar. "Two drinks of whiskey," said Stump. Kinski silently nodded. Buford and a couple other citizens laughed.

"Very cute, boys, but you ain't old enough to have drinks," said Buford as he cleaned a dirty glass and spat in it. Kinski growled under his breath. "Gimme a glass! or you'll find yer 'ead stuck in ze spitoon!" he yelled and reached for his gun. He cursed under his breath when his hand brushed against the side of his jeans but didn't feel the familiar weight of the gun in its holster. Buford narrowed his eyes.

"You better be carefull what you say boy...say, speakin' of which, that accent...sounds familiar." Kinski's eyes gradually widened and he placed his own hand over his mouth. Buford eyed him suspiciously.

"You that German hunchback's nephew or somethin?" he asked as he leaned over a bit. Kinski quickly shook his little head, still covering his mouth. Buford's eyes continued to stare at Kinski. Then they widened a bit when he noticed that the rabbit boy had a hump as well. Buford's discovery made Kinski very nervous.

Before Buford could open his mouth, Stump grabbed an empty glass next to him and chucked it at Buford's face. Buford screamed. A chain reaction followed. Before anyone knew it, everyone was fighting each other. Kinski jumped off his stool and bolted. Stump jumped down as well and followed after him. Kinski grabbed a nearby chair and defended himself with it.

"Come 'ere, you little brat!" shouted a grizzly bobcat with dirty jeans and a tattered shirt. Kinski used all his strength and smacked the bobcat with the chair. The chair crashed against the bobcat's face. The bobcat screamed in pain and rage. He turned around and tried to slug him, but slugged someone else instead. The chain reaction got bigger and bigger till everyone was in on the fight. Buford got his bat out and was coming toward the two rabbit boys.

"Run!" screamed Stump. The two rabbit boys bolted out of the saloon. Kinski punched and kicked his way out. Suddenly Kinski was grabbed by Elgin. Kinski screamed and struggled, but he was very weak compared to the adult.

"Gotcha you brat!" snarled Elgin. Stump stopped and noticed that Kinski was in trouble. His eyes widened and he instantly ran back. "Kinski!" he yelled and attacked Elgin. The trench coat wearing cat screamed when Stump kicked him in the shins. Kinski collapsed to the ground. Stump helped him up and they both bolted.

Stump tripped but regained his balance. They ducked and dodged their way out of the crazy saloon. They burst through the swinging doors and tumbled out. Stump groaned and rubbed his small head. Kinski got up and brushed himself off. He turned back to the saloon and laughed.

"Haha! Zat vas ze most fun bar fight I've ever been in!" he said grinning as blood dribbled down his small mouth. Stump rolled his eyes and got up. Kinski wiped his mouth and looked over to Stump. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey. Um...Zanks fer helping me back zere..." he said. Stump stopped and turned in surprise. Then he waved off Kinski's words. "It was nothing," he said.

Suddenly, a couple people tumbled out of the saloon. They were drunk and all out of sorts from the bar fight inside. The two young rabbit boys got out of the way and continued toward the fountain.

When they got to the fountain, it had boards on top of it. Kinski and Stump removed the boards. Stump and Kinski gasped. "It's gone!" they both screamed. Stump started to breathe heavily. His small chest rising and falling. Kinski narrowed his eyes at him. He was about to say something mean to his friend but Stump spoke before him.

"We're stuck like this…" said Stump and sat down on the ground. His small, round face, buried in his small arms. His hat slipped over his head. Kinski's eyebrows raised a bit. He all the sudden felt horrible. Stump was right. They were stuck in their six year old bodies. Kinski stared down at the sad little rabbit, then sat down next to him. He lifted Stump's hat.

Stump looked up at him with watery eyes and wiped them away. Kinski smiled a small smile. "If ve got into zis mess, ve could git out, jes?" he asked. Stump stared at his friend for a minute. He shrugged, "I guess…do you have a plan?" he asked. Kinski helped his friend up. The little hunchback rabbit had a grin on his face. "Jes, I have plan," he said then they both walked toward Mr. Blacks workshop.

Mr. Black wasn't around when the two boys entered the shop. He was busy working on a coffin in the other room. They grabbed some shovels and made their way out and toward where the fountain once was. They placed the ends of their shovels into the hard packed earth and began to dig. Kinski was already tired in a couple seconds. "Ug, sucks being in a small body, I can hardly keep zis shovel up," he groaned and tried digging some more. Stump nodded in agreement. Finally, Kinski collapsed in exhaustion. "Damn," he muttered, his small chest rising and falling.

Kinski looked down at the small hole they made and ran his small phalanges in it. He went down on all fours and began to dig with his hands. The earth gave away at his touch. Kinski grinned. "Ve have just got through the hard surface, underneath is soft. I dig," he said. After he got his breath, he began to dig. Stump watched. Kinski smiled up at Stump when he got to about three feet. "Ze dirt is getting vet," he said.

Suddenly, the wet dirt gave in and Kinski fell. "Aaahhhhh!" screamed Kinski as the dirt under the adorable hunchback jackrabbit gave away, revealing a black, endless hole. "Kinski!" screamed Stump and reached out to grab his friend.

Kinski grabbed Stumps hand, thus pulling him in. They screamed as they continued to free fall into the darkness. They rubbed up against the walls of dirt and rolled down the curved dirt wall and tumbled to the ground. The two rabbits groaned and rubbed their sore bodies. Stump got up and looked around. Darkness.

"K?" he called. Kinski groaned a response. Stump blinked his eyes, trying to adjust them to the darkness and began to look around for his friend. He spotted a dark figure and placed his hand on top of it. "Oww! don't touch it!" screamed Kinski in his high pitch German accent.

Stump jerked his hand back. "Sorry...are you ok?" he asked. Kinski was about to say something insulting, but the pain coursed through his body and made him whimper in a very high pitch sound and curl up into a ball.

"...No...I'm not," he finally answered.

Stump reached out again, this time, he touched the top of his head, then found his little arms and helped him up. Kinski groaned again in pain. "I'll help you up," said Stump as he placed Kinski's arm over his shoulder and gently lifted the hunchback boy up. Kinski continued to whimper softly. "I can't, " he cried. Stump shushed him softly. "Yes you can. I'm not leaving you. We are going to get out of this together," he told him. Then Stump helped Kinski walk away from the side and to the faint light that came from the ceiling of the cavern. They both looked up and sighed. It was so far up. They were trapped.

Stump looked down and over to the huge tunnel across from them. Then he looked down at Kinski. "Do you still have yer matches?" he asked. Kinski lifted his head up. "Jes...vhy?" he asked. Stump pointed at the tunnel in the darkness. "I want to know what is over there," he said. Kinski nodded and reached down into his left pocket for his matches. He pulled them out.

"Here," he said. Stump grabbed the box and used one hand to flick the box open and to pull a match out. He struck it against Kinski's hump. The match lit up. Kinski glared up at Stump with rage. "Dont ever do zat again," he snarled. Stump ignored him as he began dragging the small hunchback forward with him over to the open tunnel.

They walked up to the strange rock formation in front of them. The light flickered, illuminating the multicolored wall. "Vhat is it?" asked Kinski. Stumped shrugged. "Dunno. Looks like a strange rock wall," he said as he dragged Kinski over to it. Kinski reached up and touched it. It was cold, and slimy. He pulled his hand back. As he did, a trail of slimy goo was seen connected to his hand from the strange wall. Kinski made a disgusted face and tried wiping it on Stump's shirt.

"Oi-!" Stump snapped, but was interrupted by a strange sound. The two little jackrabbits turned and noticed that the wall was moving. Stump took a step back, helping Kinski move back as well as the wall began to tremble and move. Suddenly, the middle of the wall opened up. Instead of seeing rocks falling or any stalactites, the wall opened up into an eye. It wasn't a wall at all! It was a huge creature! The bloodshot eye stared down at the small jackrabbits.

Stump and Kinski screamed in horror and moved the opposite direction. The huge creature woke up from its sleep and began to move, making the empty aquifer shake and stalactites fall. Kinski and Stump swerved out of the way of the jagged rocks and made their way back to where they fell.

Stump let go of Kinski, making him fall and began to try and climb up the dirt wall, but it was too steep. "Help! Help! Someone! Help!" screamed Stump as he clawed the wall and jumped up frantically. Kinski groaned and slowly sat upright. He heard a roar behind him. He gasped and turned his head, just in time to see the huge creature break through the low aquifer ceiling toward them.

Instinctively, he placed his hands down on the ground and began to dig. He kept digging till he made a tunnel. Stump turned and noticed Kinski was gone. "Kinski!" he called. He heard strange scraping noise over the huge beast as it came toward him, and noticed Kinski's tunnel. He ran to the tunnel and jumped in before the beasts strange tongue lashed out and almost grabbed him.

Stump fell five feet before he crashed down on Kinski. "Ow!" screamed Kinski. "Sorry! Sorry!" said Stump as he used his arms to lift him up and held the sides of the vertical tunnel. It was a tight squeeze for Stump's stomach. Kinski rubbed his hump angrily and looked upward past Stump to where the monster was. The monster growled and the two rabbits could hear it sniffing the air for them. Then it left. Kinski sighed with relief.

"Well...glad that's over...now if you don't mind...could you make the tunnel a little wider?" asked Stump. Kinski stared up at Stump and raised an eyebrow. Stump bared his long crooked teeth. "Don't start with me, hunchback, just dig!" he snapped.

Kinski scraped around Stump till he was able to move. Stump sighed with relief, feeling the tight feeling around his stomach loosen and he was able to breathe properly. He brushed the sand off of his arms. Then he turned to Kinski.

"How are we gonna git out of this?" asked Stump. Kinski was breathing heavily, but he didn't answer. Just then, they heard the monster appear again from the opening above them. They held their breath and watched as the monster growl above and walk away. They waited a couple seconds. Nothing. They exchanged glances. Stump nodded his head up.

"You wanna go first?" he asked in a whisper. Kinski narrowed his eyes. "How can I if you are on-mmph!" he started but Stump slapped a hand over his mouth and placed his finger to his lips. "Shh," he said. Suddenly, the monster growled and small shuffling was heard. Then silence. Stump moved so Kinski could check first. Kinski climbed his way back up and looked out the hole he made.

Suddenly, right when he poked his head up from the hole, a huge waterfall of gooey saliva came down on the rabbit and into the little tunnel. "Ugh!" Kinski screamed in disgust as it went all over him, and dripped down onto Stump. "Uck! What the bloody hell?" screamed Stump in his six year old voice as he tried wiping the goo from his face. Kinski got out of the tunnel and wiped the goo from his boy clothes and out of his ears.

"Ug! I'm gonna kill zat toad zing!" he shouted angrily as he scanned around the empty aquifer for the creature. His eyes widened when he realized that he was just underneath it. The toad stared down at him with its huge, glaring eyes. Kinski stared back, scared stiff. He slowly sank down into his little hole.

Suddenly, the toad flicked its tongue out and stuck it into the rabbit tunnel. Kinski felt his clothes instantly stick to the tongue and pull him out. He screamed in fear as he flailed his arms and legs, straining to reach for anything to grab onto.

"Stump! Help!" Kinski screamed as he tried reaching for the short rabbit. Stump reached for Kinski's small hand. He grabbed him and pulled. The two were pulled up and flung upwards. They screamed as they went over the toad and out of the aquifer. They went back through the hole and landed on the ground in the middle of Dirt, covered in goo.

"Ugh!" Stump groaned as he got off of Kinski. Kinski coughed and spat out the goo as he struggled to lift his small body up. As he did, a trail of goo went from the ground to his face. He wiped it off in disgust and tried getting up, but was in too much pain. Stump grabbed his arm and supported him.

"Sorry about that," Stump said. Kinski didn't say anything as he rubbed his deformity and sighed. "Vell...I guess zat's it zen...ja?" he asked. Stump looked over to the hole where they flew out of and sighed. Then he turned back and nodded.

"Yeah...that's it...we are stuck in our six year old bodies..." he said. Kinski lowered his head. Stump sighed and began to make Kinski walk. "Come on...let's go," Stump said. Kinski looked up at him with his big hazel eyes. "Go? Vhere?" he asked.

Stump shrugged. "I dunno...anywhere but here," he said.

Kinski stared at Stump, then looked away and nodded his head. "Ok..." With that, the two young rabbits walked away from Dirt and off into the desert. The sun began to set. The moon and stars came out. Stump helped Kinski down next to a boulder. Kinski silently propped up against it. Stump stared at Kinski with concern.

"How are you doin'?" Stump asked. Kinski rubbed his sore hump, but that wasn't what was bothering him. Kinski silently shrugged. Stump sighed and shivered in the bitter cold.

"Im gonna go find some firewood...do tou still have your matches?" Stump asked. Kinski instinctively placed his hand over the pocket where he always kept them and nodded his head, averting his eyes from Stump with his head down low.

Stump turned and walked off to find firewood. It didn't take him long and soon the two young rabbits had a nice warm fire going to keep them warm through the night. Stump laid down a couple of feet away from his friend near the boulder.

"Its not that bad...at least we didn't age twenty or thirty years and be really old geezers," Stump laughed, but stopped when he realized Kinski wasn't laughing. Kinski usually was in a good mood, even in awkward or bad situations, but this time, he seemed really upset.

Stump reached over and patted his friends shoulder. "It will be ok, K. You told me yerself. We'll figure out a way," he said. Kinski didn't speak. Stump stared at his friend's deformity. Then he heard the familiar sound of metal clinking together. He looked over Kinski's shoulder and saw Kinski fumbling with his jacks.

Stump rested his hand on Kinski's shoulder. "...I'm sorry I did all those stupid things to you, Kinski," he said. Kinski turned his head to Stump. Stump never called him his real name before. He always made fun of it or just called him K. Stump sighed. "I've been a jerk...it's my fault this happened to us," he said, lowering his head. Kinski sat upright and shook his head. "No," he said. Stump didnt look up. Kinski continued.

"Ve...ve jus' didn't start off right..." he said. Stump nodded. Kinski shrugged. "Ja, I guess it could be vorse...ve could be very old...an' hunched over...but I am alvready like zat," he joked. Stump turned to Kinski in surprise. He never joked about his deformity. Kinski snickered at his own joke. Stump smiled and then laughed. Gradually, he got tired and laid his head down.

"You are a good friend, Kinski...you're almost like a brother to me," Stump said. Kinski stopped laughing, then turned to Stump in surprise. Stump quickly turned away and fell asleep. "Goodnight, K." Kinski stared down at Stump, then laid down next to him and closed his eyes. "Goodnigh', Stump," he said. A small smile formed on his face...

...

The next morning, Kinski woke up to the sound of screaming. Kinski groaned and lifted his head up. "Mmmh? Vha?" he asked in a deep voice. Kinski blinked open his eyes and saw Stump standing next to him in his normal aged body. His small clothes had ripped and were tattered on Stump's overweight adult body; but Stump didn't care as he stared down in excitement.

Kinski's eyes widened and he looked down at himself. He stared down at his long arms and legs then touched his face and hair. He cursed in surprise, then jumped to his feet. He stared down at Stump who was prancing around excitedly. Kinski grinned and began to prance around excitedly as well.

"We're not small anymore! It had to have been the beast's saliva that turned us back!" said Stump. Kinski laughed happily in agreement and hugged Stump.

Suddenly, they heard a loud whistle. Stump and Kinski stopped and turned their heads to where the sound came from. Bill and Chorizo stood next to the boulder with their arms crossed over their chests, but with wide smirks on their faces. Kinski quickly let go of Stump and felt his whole face burning in embarrassment.

"Well, what do we have here?" asked Bill. Chorizo snickered a bit. "Don't know, boss...looks like a bunch of idiots dancin' around in just their fur," he said. Kinski looked down and realized that he wasn't really wearing any clothes and quickly crouched down in embarrassment, feeling very exposed. Stump did the same.

"What the bloody hell are you two doin' out ere?" asked Bill. Stump and Kinski exchanged embarassed glances. "Um...y-you wouldn't believe it if we told you," Stump said as he turned his head back to Bill.

The End!

...

 **Another supernatural phenomenon. This one was inspired when I was drawing little versions of Stump and Kinski. Then I thought it would be fun to see them shrunk and with their overly baggy clothes on. Then I thought of the fountain of youth and BAM! instant random short. Yeah I know, weird, but still was fun to write. It was fun drawing the two freaking out as young boys in their big outlaw clothes :) hope you liked**

...


	7. Chapter 7: Focus on Red

**Focus on Red**

A couple of months passed in the town of Dirt.

It was night. The clouds covered the sky, hiding the moon. A stranger rode on a reddish brown roadrunner and wore a dark colored cloak. The figure stopped at the sign that said the town's name: Dirt. The cold winds picked up, ruffling the ends of the cloak. Thunder was heard in the distance. The figure whipped the reins and headed to the town.

The town was mostly asleep...except for the saloon. Kinski, Chorizo, Stump and Bill were in the saloon, drinking and laughing hysterically. They threw bottles and played games. "Watch this," said Stump as he threw a dagger at the overused dartboard hanging from one of the wooden posts in the saloon. The hole covered dartboard instantly cracked in half and fell into two halves and crashed to the floor. The guys laughed.

"Cho!" Kinski called as he got up and tried balancing an empty bottle on his head. Chorizo grinned as he got up and aimed for the bottle. Slightly tipsy, but still was able to hit his target.

 _Bang!_

The bottle shattered and the glass fell down Kinski's head. The deranged rabbit laughed and staggered a bit, nearly falling. Bill took a long swig out of one of the bottles and chucked it at one of the wanted posters hanging near the glass mirror. They laughed some more and continued grabbing bottles from the bar.

Stump stopped playing around when his eyes instantly flickered to the bottle of alcohol. He grinned and grabbed for it greedily. "Hey K. Wanna have a race?" the rabbit asked, raising a bottle in his hand to the hunchback. Kinski grinned mischivously.

"Ja, But... Yer gonna loooshe," he said in his slurred voice. Stump snorted. "Weeelll see abou' thhat!" he laughed. Chorizo counted to three for the rabbits. " _Uuunnooo...dooossssh...treesh_!" he said. Stump threw his head back and began chugging down his bottle.

Kinski turned himself sideways and was about to guzzle down the bottle but suddenly stopped. Stump stopped drinking when he noticed the tall rabbit's unusual behavior. "Kinssshki?" he asked, surprised that Kinski didn't guzzle down the drink in three seconds as he always did. Kinski didn't say anything. His head was turned to the bat wing doors. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly. "K?" Stump asked again.

Suddenly, the bottle slipped from his fingers and crashed to the floor. Bill and Chorizo flinched and turned their heads to the hunchback jackrabbit. "What's gotten into you, boy?" asked Bill as he waved his hand in front of Kinski's face before lightly smacking it. Kinski snapped out of his dazed state.

"Vhat vas zat fer?" he asked Bill in irritation. Bill gave him a look. "You were frozen! What else was I supposed to do? What the bloody hell were you gawkin' at?" he asked as he turned his head to outside. Stump and Chorizo did the same. Across the street from the saloon was a female jackrabbit.

Her fur was a light beige color and she wore a blue dress under a dark cloak. Her long hair was dark brown, almost black, and was tied up in a ponytail. She was talking with a couple of the town citizens who were still up and walking down the main street of the town.

"Hello, my name is Emily von Gottlippe. I was wondering if you could tell me where there are any open rooms avilable?" she asked. The Dirtonians pointed down the street. They said something to her. The girl, named Emily, nodded her head and walked down the street, walking a reddish brown runner behind her. Kinski tilted his head and watched her as she walked down the street till he couldn't see her anymore.

 _No...it...it couldn't be..._ Kinski thought to himself.

Finally, Bill, Stump and Chorizo slowly turned their heads back to the hunchback. Bill gave Kinski a smirk. "Ah, now I see," he said. Kinski blinked, then felt the tips of his droopy ears beginning to burn. "I-is not vhat you zink!" he snarled angrily. Bill snorted. "Sure," he muttered, rolling his eyes in the process. After that, Kinski, Stump, Chorizo and Bill didn't say anything to each other as they drank their drinks.

After a half an hour of silence, they decided to leave. They left the bar and rode down the street in their wagon. Bill was so drunk he couldnt see straight, making the wagon swerve right and left. After a while, they finally made it to the Abandoned mines, their home. All four staggered out of the wagon and stumbled inside.

Stump and Chorizo flopped down on their couches and instantly passed out for the night.

Kinski laid in his couch, staring across the room. Still thinking of that female rabbit. Just then, Bill passed by, and stared down at him. Kinski quickly turned away. Bill narrowed his eyes, but decided not to say anything and walked on. As he did Bill thought about the famale rabbit and how Kinski stared at her. He narrowed his eyes a bit. There's something about her that I don't like, especially how Kinski stared at her...

...

The next morning, Kinski woke up and began to head outside. Bill quickly came in front of him, blocking his way. Kinski stopped in his tracks and growled. "Vhat do you vant?" he snarled. Bill narrowed his eyes back at the hunchback jackrabbit.

"Don't hang aroun' that girl, K. I have a bad feeling abou' 'er," Bill told the hunchback. Kinski sneered the way he always did when he didnt like something. "I'm not gonna hang vith ze vrabbit girl. I'm jus' gonna go to ze saloon fer some drinks." With that, he shouldered past Bill and walked outside and toward the town.

Bill watched Kinski walk away, then he turned back to Stump and Chorizo, who were up and were eating breakfast at the table. "Ya know he's gonna go see that rabbit girl," Stump pointed out as he chewed on a spoonful of cold oatmeal that was very old.

Bill gave him a look. "No shit, Sherlock! I bloody well know he's gonna go an' see that girl!" he shouted angrily. Stump looked down at his food and continued eating. Bill huffed angrily then turned back to outside and watched Kinski storm off toward the town.

After a couple minutes, he grabbed his worn, black bowler hat from a hat rack near the opening and walked out toward Dirt.

...

Kinski stormed down the road angrily. He wished Bill would get off his deformed back about "Emily." He had no intentions of being around her. He glared down at the ground as he walked, ignoring the stares from the townspeople. Suddenly he bumped into someone. "Git outta my-!" he started angrily, but then stopped. It was the female rabbit from last night. Kinski's eyes widened as he stared down at her.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said, staring up at Kinski. Kinski continued to stare down at her, frozen to the spot.

She was shorter then Kinski, coming up to his chest. She was a thin, slender rabbit, and in her late twenties, possibly closer to Kinski's age. Gradually, the female rabbit's mouth formed a warm smile up to the tall hunchback. Kinski just continued staring down at her. He was dumbstruck. She...she looked just like-

"Oi! You there, lass! Who are you? And what the bloody hell are you doing here?" Bill asked. Both rabbits turned their head to the Gila Monster who was approaching them. Kinski raised his shoulders up to his head and growled a low growl.

The female rabbit looked up at him. "Oh! I'm sorry," she straightened up and held out her right hand. "My name is Emily von Gottlippe, I'm from the town of Grime and came out here to settle into a different town," she said.

Kinski went in between Bill and Emily and glared up at the Gila Monster. "Vhat ze hell are you doin' ere?" He snarled in a low voice through his rotten teeth. Bill glared down at Kinski. "What does it look like I'm doin,' you twit? I'm gettin' you away from this lass and takin' ya home! Even if you fight me, Ill drag you by yer ears!"

Kinski bared his teeth at the Gila Monster. "I can take care of myself, Bill. I not a child," Kinski snarled. Bill narrowed his eyes and looked away. "Ya soun' like one though," he muttered under his breath, hoping the hunchback didn't hear him.

Kinski glared at Bill. Finally, he turned on his heels and left. Bill watched the rabbit till he was gone. Then he left as well, not even bothering to say goodbye to Emily.

...

The next couple of days, Kinski was always seen looking over his shoulder for Emily. It drove Bill crazy. He wanted to strangle the hunchback rabbit. He didn't understand why it bothered him that Kinski was looking for the female rabbit, it was something about her that made him feel uneasy. Would it matter if Kinski looked for another girl in the town? Probably not. Everyone in the town were as dumb as rocks...but Emily was different. It was something about her that made him uneasy. It was like she was putting a spell on his fellow gang member.

One day he spotted Kinski somewhat hiding behind a wagon as he watched her tie her runner up to the wooden post and head inside her house. Right when she closed the door, Kinski straightened up and headed over to the door. Bill quickly advanced forward and reached out to touch Kinski's shoulder to stop him.

Suddenly, Kinski whipped around at lightning speed and tackled Bill to the ground. His gun was out and was pressed up against Bill's head. Bill shouldve known better then to sneak up on Kinski. Kinski was known to always be alert and paranoid about everything.

"Oi! Git off me you!" Bill snapped angrily. Kinski blinked in surprise. "Bill?" he asked as he got up off the Gila Monster. Kinski narrowed his eyes a bit and placed his gun back in to its holster. "Vhat are you doing here?" he asked.

Bill brushed himself off before turning his focus to the hunchback. "I saw you watching Miss von Got-whatever." Kinski growled and looked away. "Ja...so vhat? I can vatch 'er. Is not like I'm doing anyzing. I jus' vant to ask 'er somezing-" "What is it you want to ask me?" asked a voice. Kinski and Bill jumped and turned to where the voice came from. Emily stood with her front door wide open. She wore the same dark blue dress the same night she came to the town. Her black hair was still tied up in a ponytail. Kinski and Bill froze where they stood.

Kinski opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Bill stared at Kinski for a minute, curious of what exactly he wanted to say to the female rabbit. Then, Bill looked over to Emily who looked back up at him and gave him a small, confused, but innocent smile. After a couple minutes of waiting for the silent hunchback rabbit to speak, Bill decided to get him and himself out of the situation. He placed his arm over Kinski's shoulder, careful not to touch his hump, and turned him away from the girl toward the saloon.

"Looks like he forgot what he was gonna ask. Come on, boy. Ya look famished. Let's go an git ya a drink. It was nice meetin' ya, lass," Bill said quickly over his shoulder to Emily. Kinski bunched his arms up to his chest in surprise as he was taken away toward the saloon.

Once they passed through the bat wing doors into the dim room, the honkytonk music instantly stopped and everyone stopped talking. Kinski and Bill ignored them as they walked up to the bar and sat down at the stools for their free drinks. Kinski placed his arms down on the counter as Buford averted his eyes from him and prepared his drink. Bill looked over his shoulder through the windows to see if Emily followed them. Thankfully she didn't.

Bill sighed with relief, and smiled when he saw a small glass of cactus juice being set down before him. Kinski had already swallowed his first glass and was silently asking for another. Once it was refilled, Bill decided to talk to the hunchback.

"I don't trust that female rabbit," Bill said. Kinski stopped drinking. He sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew Bill wanted him to ask: "Vhy?" Bill bared his teeth "I just do! Allrigh!? An' I dont wantchya hangin' round her, she's dangerous," he said. Kinski rolled his eyes again. "I know zat" he muttered as he lifted the glass to his lips and drank. Bill glared at Kinski.

"I know you have a feeling for her," he said. Kinski's eyes widened as he was guzzling down the drink. He stopped drinking and spat it all over the bar. "Vhat?!" he choked out in shock, slamming the glass down. Bill continued to glare at Kinski.

"You heard me, boy." Kinski stared at Bill before throwing his head back and laughing maniacally then shaking his head. " _Nein!_ No. I do not 'ave "feelings" fer Emily!" Kinski said snorting, trying to hide his anger. The tips of his droopy ears began to burn. Bill raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Then why are ya hangin' around 'er a lot? Always lookin' over yer shoulder?" he asked. Kinski stopped snickering and opened his mouth. "I...she-" he started but Bill was quicker. _"Don't_ start giving me excuses, boy. I know it when I see it. You fancy her-" "I do not!" Kinski shouted, his anger finally showing as he stood up from his stool and glaring at Bill.

The two outlaws glared at each other angrily. The people in the bar scooted farther away from them and held their breaths. The atmosphere became very thick in the room with the cigar smoke.

After what felt like hours, Bill finally backed down. "Fine...I don't feel like cleaning my knife again anyway," he muttered. Kinski looked down and watched as Bill lowered his Bowie knife and placed it back into its worn leather sheath. Kinski gradually relaxed his hand on his gun. With that, Kinski left the saloon. Bill listened to the bat wing saloon doors creak before gradually slowing to a stop.

...

Bill stayed in the saloon till it got very dark outside. He yawned and decided to head back to the mines. He purposely smacked the small liquor glasses over, letting them shatter to the floor before getting off the stool and heading out through the bat wing doors.

The moon illuminated the dirt road as Bill walked down it. No one was out. The lights were off in the town, making it nice and quiet. Bill liked walking down the town at night. It was quite peaceful and soothing.

The moment instantly was shattered when he heard a scream down one of the streets. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head toward the sound of the noise. He quickly went into the shadows, close to one of the hotels and pressed his back against it.

He placed his claws on his revolver in his holster and listened. Silence. He gradually began moving along the wall. Inch by inch, getting closer to the corner. When he got to it, he stopped and listened again. A faint rustling sound was heard.

He bared his teeth and pulled out his gun and pulled the hammer back. He counted to three before jumping out around the corner, and aiming his gun. He gasped and took a couple steps back, dropping his gun.

In the middle of an alleyway, against the right wall, was a dead body. Bill stared at the grotesque scene that was splayed out before him, bathed in moonlight. It was not any typical murder scene, but, it was a very familiar murder scene. Something he knew since he was a boy back home in England.

"Red..." he whispered. He quickly scooped up his gun and looked around before bolting away from the bloody gore. He ran out of the town and toward the mines as fast as he could...

...

The next morning, Bill woke up with a start. He had a horrible time trying to go to sleep. All he kept seeing was the bloody murder scene in the alleyway. Red's signature murder scene. Bill breathed heavily as he clutched his chest and tried calming his rapidly beating heart down.

After that, he got up and looked over to the three couches where his gang usually slept. Kinski's couch was empty, so was Stump's. Chorizo was seen snoring away on his own couch. Bill heard a noise near the doorway and jumped. He relaxed when he realized that it was just Stump.

Stump was just leaving out of the mines. Bill quickly followed after him and called his name. "Stump!" Bill sauntered over to the rabbit. Stump sighed and turned around to face the Gila monster "What do you want, Bill?" he asked in an irritated tone. Bill stopped in front of the short jackrabbit. "I want to talk to you about Kinski," Bill said. Stump rolled his eyes. "K already told me about you stopping him from meeting Emily-"

"Which is who I want to talk to you about," Bill interrupted, baring his teeth a bit. Stump rolled his eyes. "Come on, Bill. Let K get with Emily. I bet it will only be one night-"

"Do you remember the famous murderer named Red?" asked Bill, interrupting the rabbit again. Stump blinked in surprise at the Gila Monster, and seemed to tremble a bit at the name.

"R-Red? Y-You mean as in... Red D-Dead Red?" he asked. Bill nodded. "Yeah, back home," he said. Stump gave him another look. "Back home? You mean our home in England?" he asked. Bill nodded again. Stump looked away and tried remembering back to his childhood when he lived in England.

"Erm...A little...I guess. I remember huge wanted posters for Red...I...I do remember the chant my brothers and sisters used to come home singing about...and trying to scare me with..."

Bill felt a cold chill run up his spine when Stump began singing the little chant:

 _"Red Dead Red..._

 _Red Dead Red..._

 _he is comin' for yer head..._

 _Red Dead Red...Red Dead Red..._

 _he is_...I don't really remember the rest...Why?" he finally asked as he slowly lifted his head up to Bill. Bill looked around to see if anyone was listening in. Then he lowered his head down to Stump and spoke in a low voice.

"Someone 'ere got murdered the same way Red murdered 'is victims back 'ome in England," he replied. Stump felt his heart skip a beat and he took a step back.

"W-wait...are you saying...?" his voice faltered a bit. Bill nodded. "I think Red has come down 'ere to America and is now staying in this town," he said. Stump gasped and began to look around. After not seeing anything suspicious, he turned back to Bill. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"I'm tellin' ya this because you would know Red since 'e's from the same country we were from. Kinski and Chorizo would 'ave no idea who I was talkin' about an' start to think I've gone mad!" Stump nodded his head. Then he shifted nervously from one foot to the next.

"B-but...it c-can't be...Red...erm...m-maybe it's..." his voice faltered, then he tried again. "Who do you think it is then? I mean...it can't be one of the townspeople or one of us..." he said. Bill shook his head. "No. It's neither of us. No one that mad would brutally murder someone and paint everything around the body in the victims own blood," he said.

Stump gulped. "Wh-what about Kinski? he's-" "I highly doubt he did it, I remember rumors about a hunchback from a freak show visiting England...but Red was before him...and besides, its not Kinski's style. He's mad...but..." Bill's voice faltered and he decided not to finish his sentence.

Stump looked away and mentally crossed out Kinski's name in his head. "So...who could it be? There hasn't been a stranger to enter the town for months," the rabbit replied.

Bill gave Stump a look. "Really? Do you ever use yer bloomin' head to think?" Stump looked up at the Gila Monster in surprise, then knitted his eyebrows together. "What the bloody hell are you talking about? I use my cranium! You think I'm as daft as a rock now?!" he shouted, but stopped when he saw Emily passing by.

Bill grumbled something inappropriate and turned his head to the side. Stump watched her as she walked by. She didn't glance at them as she walked away, carrying a box of items. After she left, Bill and Stump faced each other. Bill still had his arms crossed over his chest. Stump glared up at the Gila Monster before crossing his arms over his chest and straightening up, trying to look big.

"Well? What else do you want to tell me then? Are you going to tell me that...oh I don't know...that Emily is Red?!" Stump said then began to laugh. Bill waited for Stump to finish mocking him before nodding his head. "Actually, yes. I think Emily is Red," he said.

Stump stopped smiling and stared up at Bill in shock at what he said. Then he began to laugh again, except this time harder. He fell over and rolled from side to side in the dirt, holding his stomach. "What the bloody hell have you been drinkin'? Emily ain't Red! She's too nice! An' she's a girl," he grinned after he stopped laughing and got up from the dirt.

Bill growled loudly and uncrossed his arms. He balled his hands into fists at his sides and strained himself to not kick Stump where he stood. "You know I'm right, you bloat! Since the day she came, she's been a pain in the ass!" he shouted. Stump rolled his eyes.

"No, she's been normal! You are the one who's been a pain in the ass! Not lettin' the ol' hunchback boy to talk to the lady," he said.

Bill took a step forward to the rabbit. "Then how is it that there have not been a single Red murder before she came 'ere? an' all the sudden, the same exact style of murder jus' _happens_ to happen within the week that she arrives 'ere in the town?" Bill asked.

Stump shrugged. "Coincidence? Maybe someone found out about Red and decided to copy his style?" he asked. Bill shook his head. "No, why would one of the townspeople do that? these folks are nothin' but yellow ninnies. They couldn't murder someone even if they tried," he snarled.

Stump shook his head. "Either way, you are wrong. Emily couldn't be Red. She doesn't even 'ave a British accent like us," he pointed out. Bill rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, its easy to fake yer accent. I wouldn't be surprised if you tried soundin' like an American jus' to get away from the law," he said. Stump looked away and muttered something.

"Besides," Bill added. "If you listen real close, you can 'ear her say certain things like a Brit. Ask her what her favorite color is or somethin.' You'll 'ear it," he said.

Stump waved off Bill's words. "Naw. seriously, the first day I met you, I assumed _you_ were Red," Stump said. Bill snorted. "I dunno if I could live that kind of life,"

Stump shook his head. "You are mad. Let the "Emily being Red" idea go. Let K talk to the girl. Its not like she can kill 'im. He would kill 'er before she would even lay a finger on 'im, so why are you so worried about 'im?" Stump asked.

"I dunno...I just don't want him to get into trouble," Bill admitted.

 _Meanwhile..._

A pair of bloodshot eyes watched her as she struggled to carry the heavy item down the street. Kinski cleared his throat. "Um…miss Emily?" he asked right when she walked in front of him. Emily huffed and turned. "Yes?" she asked. She grunted as she tried holding up the heavy box. Kinski pointed to the box.

"I noticed zat you vere struggling vith zat box. I carry it, ja?" he asked in his weird German accented way. Emily looked at the box in her arms, then back up at Kinski. "Oh, you don't have to-" she started. "But I vant to...I mean, I help you...jes?" he asked as he stared at her. Emily stared at the hunchback jackrabbit for a minute. Then she smiled.

"That's real sweet of ya..." she stopped. "…Kinski," answered Kinski. Emily smiled again. "Kinski, that's a unique name," she said. Kinski nodded as he accepted the crate. Then he followed her down the road to the hotel where she stayed.

Finally, they reached the hotel. Emily opened the door for Kinski to step inside. Kinski did. Then, Emily followed after him and closed the door behind her. "It's up the stairs, third door down to the left," she said. Kinski walked up the steps and down the narrow hallway. Once he got to the door he stopped and moved aside for Emily to unlock the door to her room.

Once it was unlocked, the door swung open and Kinski stepped inside to a small three spaced room with the main room being the bedroom. The wooden floors creaked as Kinski walked across them with his bare rabbit feet. The bed was small and was up against the wall on the other side. A nightstand sat to the left, and a picture of a bouquet of flowers on the other side of the wall. The window was on the left side of the wall and was open, letting the warm desert breeze in.

"You can put the boxes down over there-" she started but Kinski cut her off.

"Qvit acting. I know who you are. Don't try an' fake it vith me. I only pretended so ve could git avay from ze people," Kinski snarled as he chucked the boxes carelessly down on the ground. Emily stared back at him. Kinski glared back. It was dead quiet in the room as both female and male jackrabbit stared at each other. Gradually Emily smirked and pulled out the rubber band that held her ponytail in place. She gave her head a shake, letting her hair fall over her shoulders.

Then she came up and reached out to touch the side of Kinski's face. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, my darling psycho," she said, dropping her fake American accent and going into her British accent. Kinski moved his head away from her touch. "I am not yer 'darling psycho,' _Victoria,"_ Kinski said firmly.

Victoria grinned and removed her hand from where Kinski's face once was. "I knew somewhere in that beautiful insane brain of yours, you would have figured it out that it was me. Now tell me, how did it make you feel when you realized it? Were you surprised? confused? _Turned on_?" she teased. Kinski narrowed his eyes.

"'How are you 'ere? I saw you...dead...on ze ground!" Kinski said. Victoria smiled in amusement at the hunchback jackrabbit. "It's not that hard to play dead. Especially when you are half unconscious and have a wounded shoulder. I was fortunate to have been shot by someone who didn't know how to shoot straight. But during the time I was barely awake. I got to see you murder those men in front of my eyes. Oh it was beautiful...the way you slashed at their throats, and the blood..." Victoria trailed on with an amused smile on her face. Kinski was horrified by her words. She was so messed up. She wasn't the same Victoria he knew when he first met her.

Victoria continued. "You have a killer instinct in you...It's so...attractive...How you would kill for me-" "I vill never kill for you," Kinski interrupted her. Victoria stopped and faced Kinski. Kinski averted his eyes from her, but felt her hands on the sides of his face and forced him to look at her.

"At least be with me, Kinski, just how we were before. Join me, and we could stop people from being wrong in this world! Stop them from being cruel, heartless idiots! You and me. Together forever. Kinski the Hunchback, and Red's daughter," Victoria said. Kinski's eyes widened in horror. He removed his face from her hands and stared at her in shock.

"V-vRed...Your dad...v-vas...vRed?" he asked. "Z-zat means-" "Yes, my father was the one who killed my mother. He had no choice. She was going to call Scotland Yard on 'im. So he did the right thing, and raised me to take his place when she died."

Kinski moved away from her, nearly tripping the boxes he dropped earlier. "No..." he said. Victoria smirked and came up to him. "Yes, Kinski," she grinned as she reached up to him again. Kinski backed away and fell against the bed. " _N-nein_! you can't!" he screamed. Victoria grinned wider. "Oh, Kinski...have I ever told you how much I love hearing you say things in German? It's so cute," she said.

With that, she pushed him onto the bed and climbed on top of him. She leaned down and kissed Kinski on the lips, using one hand to press against the back of his head, deepening the kiss. Kinski groaned and moved his head away. He spat at her face, then shoved her away from him. He got off the bed and wiped his mouth angrily with the back of his sleeve.

"You...I...I...vill never...be yours," he spat, tripping over his own words. He instantly felt drowsy. He held his head as he began to sway where he stood. At first he thought he was going all tongue tied after being kissed by Victoria. Victoria smirked and revealed an empty syringe in her hand. She drugged him while she was kissing him.

"I wouldn't count on that," she grinned insanely. Kinski's eyes widened and touched his shoulder where it began to sting. He growled and began to approach her. "You-!..." he started, but suddenly couldn't feel his legs. He collapsed to the ground and instantly felt as if the whole world was spinning. Kinski's eyes felt heavy. He stared up as Victoria went down to his eye level and cupped his chin in her fingertips.

"Sweet dreams, my darling psycho," she grinned with the same insane grin and kissed him on the cheek. When she released his head, his eyes rolled upward and closed. Then, his head went down and he collapsed. Victoria laughed a small laugh.

Then, she went down and grabbed Kinski by the arm and began to drag the big rabbit out of the room and into a different room. When she was done, she closed the door behind her and went back into the room she and Kinski were recently in, and opened the front door; down the stairs, and out of the hotel; walking away as if nothing ever happened.

...

The day grew late as the sun began to set. Bill, Stump and Chorizo sat inside the Abandoned mines, playing cards. It got very dark outside. Kinski still didn't come back from Dirt, which made Bill somewhat nervous. Stump glanced over to Bill, who was looking toward the entrance of the mines again. He rolled his yellow tinted eyes.

"Sheesh, Bill. Stop worrying over K. He's fine," he said as he shifted in his seat and looked at his cards in his hands. Bill snapped his head back and looked down at his cards. "Kinski never usually stays out this late in the town," he muttered. Chorizo heard him and nodded. "Si. I have to agree with Bill," he said as he looked over to Stump. "Kinski never stays out this late. He never likes hanging out too long at the town since he hates people looking at his deformity," he pointed out, then immitated a hunched back.

Stump rolled his eyes again. "Not if he found a girl who finds freaks of nature attractive. Then yes I bet he's out canoodling with that Emily girl right now. I bet ya ten jugs of water that is what he's doin' right this minute," Stump said and slapped one of his cards down into the pile.

With that said, Bill got up, making the table move. The tossed his cards down. "Allright, I'll take that bet. Come on," he said as he grabbed his gun and bowler hat from the table and started toward the entrance/exit of the mines. Stump's jaw dropped as he watched both Bill and Chorizo leave.

"You can't be serious," he said. Chorizo looked over his shoulder to the shocked, short rabbit and shrugged. "If yer wrong, you owe us," he said, grinning. Stump closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. "I know I'm not wrong! An' you both know it! You guys are just wasting your time!" Stump snarled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Chorizo smirked. "Well, if you are right, who will say that you were?" he snickered and left, making Stump sit upright. He narrowed his eyes even more. Finally, he sighed loudly and tossed his cards angrily down on the table. "Bloody sons of bitches," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed his hat and ran out the door after the two into the darkness.

...

When the three outlaws entered the sleeping, dark town, they casually walked down the road, looking for the hotel Emily was staying in. The moon hovered over the town in the ink black sky. Bill led the way with Chorizo and Stump following close behind. Their guns lightly tapped against their hips in their holsters as they walked.

Bill stopped and pointed down the road. "There," he whispered, pointing to Emily's hotel with a scaly finger. The whole hotel was dark, except for one light coming from the third window on the second story. The three quietly approached the hotel and looked around before climbing up the wall facing the street to the lit window.

Stump gasped loudly when he lost his footing and felt his big rabbit feet scrape against the wall. Thankfully he didn't let go of the wall and dangled there. Bill shushed him before continuing the climb. Bill was the first to make it to the open window. He sat on the edge and helped Stump and Chorizo up. The filmy curtains brushed up against their chests as they peered into the room.

Emily was seen wearing tight black jeans and a buttoned up grey tucked in shirt. Her hair was down as she moved around the room. Once she left the room into the other room, Bill ducked his head and entered into the bedroom. Stump and Chorizo followed suit.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" asked Stump in a whisper. Bill silently pulled out his gun. "We ask Emily where Kinski is," he said. Just as Stump and Chorizo placed their hands on their own guns, the lights went out.

Before the three outlaws could make a move, something heavy wacked them upside the heads from behind, knocking them out. Their bodies collapsed to the wooden floor. Emily turned the lights back on and grinned down at the unconscious men, resting a wooden bat on her shoulder.

"Stopping by to welcome me into the town? How lovely," she said, chuckling.

...

Bill groaned as he gently rolled his head from side to side. He gritted his teeth when he felt a sharp pain jolt through his head. He tried rubbing it, but found that his hands were tied. He opened his eyes and found himself in the same bedroom. He tried remembering what happened, but all he could see was black. He turned his head and saw Stump and Chorizo on his right, still knocked out.

He turned his head to his left. Kinski was seen propped up against the wall next to him. His head was down and he wasn't moving. Emily loomed over the unconscious rabbit. She began to softly sing the Red Dead Red chant to herself as she adjusted Kinski's ropes.

 _"Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is coming for your head._

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is hiding under your bed._

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is painting blood on the walls_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is laughing down the halls_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is out for children too_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _Red Dead Red,_

 _He is right behind you!"_

The female rabbit laughed insanely. "Ah, my father used to sing that song to me every night when I was little. It always made me fall asleep...then he would go out into the night and do his work," she said in her real accent.

Bill and looked back over at Kinski; still not moving. "Wh-what the bloody hell did you do to him?!" he shouted angrily. Victoria smirked at Bill and pointed to Kinski.

"He's not dead, William. He's just knocked out, that's all," she said in her British accent.

After she was done, she stared down at the unconscious deformed jackrabbit.

"You seem to really care about Kinski. I bet you had a gang member just like him before this one," she said as she looked over to Bill and gestured to Bill's new gang. "He must have been real loyal to you...maybe even gave up his own life to save you..." Victoria said.

Bill's eyes widened. _How did she...?_ he asked himself in his head. He winced when a sharp pain went through his head again. Victoria smirked. "Sorry about the blackout. I couldn't let you go with Kinski just yet...I planned something special for all of us," she grinned insanely as she got up. Bill's head was still a little fuzzy as he groaned. "Emily..." his voice faltered.

Victoria grinned down at the Gila Monster. "My real name is Victoria Ashton," she said. Just as she said that, Stump and Chorizo gradually woke up, groaning in pain. "Where...?" asked Stump as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw Victoria looming over him. His eyes widened as he tried moving, but found that his arms were tied behind his back.

"Wait...I...I know you..." his voice faltered as he stared at the female jackrabbit. Victoria narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She waited as Stump racked his jostled head till the cracked lightbulb in his head came on.

"Oh my God! Victoria?" Stump asked in shock. Victoria stared down at him and nodded. "Yes. Hello, Stump. It's nice to see you again. Would have been nice if you wrote to me and said you were still alive. Maybe on your way to America. But I guess I wasn't much of a friend to you now was I?" Victoriaasked bitterly. Chorizo and Bill looked over at Stump, who began to shrink down.

Victoria looked away from Stump and shook her head. "You are the most nosy, rude, ignorant gents I have ever met. I'm not surprised that you never learned your manners-"

"Oh shut the bloody hell up!" Bill snapped angrily. Victoria turned her focus to him. Stump and Chorizo looked over to Bill nervously and began to whisper to him to back off. Bill growled as he glared at Victoria.

"Let us go!" he shouted angrily, which made Victoria smile. "Now where's the fun in that, William? Don't you want to see what I have in store?" she asked grinning a wide, creepy grin. Bill stiffened at the horrific sight. Stump and Chorizo shifted uncomfortably where they sat.

They tried reaching for their guns, but found that Victoria had taken them from their holsters. Victoria glanced over to Bill and leaned down. "I was really surprised at how well you were able to figure me out, Will." Bill stared into her cold, dark eyes. "It wasn't that hard, you left some obvious clues...in red," he muttered gruffly. Victoria smirked and straightened up then turned her back to them.

"Yes, you figured it all out...It is true, I am Red's daughter, I murdered that poor man in the allyway...But, unfortunately, you were the _second_ person to know who I really was," Victoria said. Bill raised one eyebrow. "The second? Who was the first?" he asked. Just then, he heard a groan right next to him. Kinski began to twitch and move. Victoria grinned and nodded her head to the waking hunchback.

"Kinski," she answered. From the sound of his name, Kinski snapped his head up. Once he did, his eyes widened at the sight of Victoria. He began to struggle, but found himself tied down. He growled angrily.

Bill stared at Kinski in slight confusion. "You knew who Em-er-Victoria really was?" he asked. Kinski turned his head. "Vhat?" he asked. Bill narrowed his eyes a bit. "How do you bloody know this lass?!" he shouted. Kinski looked over to Victoria, then back at Bill.

"Victoria? I knew 'er a long time ago... She an' 'er dad took care of me in zere apartment in...Navada I zink seven or eight or zo years ago. Her dad foun' me beaten up and he took me in," he answered, then he glared at Victoria. "But she never cared to tell me zat her dad is vRed. Vould never have put two and two togezer both Sam. He vaunted to help me,"

Victoria smiled. "Yes, it was fate. He saw your true side. You are just like us. Lusting for bloodshed. The beautiful symphony and display of a body before our wonderful audiences. We were meant to meet each other...we are meant for each other," she said. Kinski rolled his eyes. Bill gave the two both a look. "An' you two fancy each other?" he asked. Kinski snapped his head to Bill. "Ve don't like each ozer!" he shouted. Victoria laughed.

"Oh, you break my heart, my darling psycho," she teased. Kinski began to shift angrily. "Shut up! Don't call me zat! I hate you fer not telling me you ver alive or zat you vere vRed's Daughter!" he shouted. Victoria smiled in amusement. "You are so cute when you get angry."

Kinski ranted off a bunch of curse words in German, but Victoria ignored him. "I came here after my father was murdered by the Mexican Mafia that used to own Kinski. I tried to find him, but got lost and ended up working for a man who owned a fruit shop in Grime. I left after I murdered someone. He caught me stealing something. I stole a runner and made my way down here. Going from town to town, looking for Kinski's wanted posters. Then I found information that he was staying here and well...here I am. An outlaw...just like you," she said.

Chorizo snorted. "What a _loco_ love story," he said, ignoring the glare Kinski was giving him. Bill rolled his eyes and bared his teeth. "All right fine, you made your point, now let us go, you have no right to keep us 'ere. We don't have anything you want," he pointed out.

Suddenly Victoria's eyes narrowed and the lighting in the room began to shadow her face, giving her a creepy appearance. A creepy smile appeared on her lips and her eyes were filled with insanity. "Actually, William...You all have something I want..." she said slowly. Stump stiffened in fear and Chorizo reached down for his gun, but then remembered he didn't have it.

"You guys know who I am...therefore...I cannot let you live," she finished. The four men gasped in horror. Victoria snickered as she lifted a gun to them. "You should be honored. You get to see how my father taught me how to leave the signature Red murder scene. It's so beautiful...just like Kinski's style," she said as she gazed at Kinski, batting her eyelashes.

Bill looked over at Kinski, who was baring his teeth at Victoria with hatred. With that, Victoria moved over to a table and began to put on a pair of white surgical gloves. When she snapped the ends of the gloves, it made each outlaw flinch.

Then Victoria's finger began to slowly drift over the various choice of deranged scalpels, knives and drills. When she picked up a saw with rusty metal teeth, Bill gulped and moved his tied up hands behind him. As he did, he felt something tucked in the back of his pants. His other knife. A plan began to form inside his head as he lifted his head up to Victoria.

"We'll let you have Kinski if you let us go!" he quickly blurted out. Victoria grinned and whipped around quickly. "Really?" she asked. Kinski opened his mouth. "Nev-ow!" he started, but Bill kicked his leg. Kinski glared at Bill, but Bill ignored him as he stared up at Victoria.

"Really. He's a bit off his rocker...well, so are you...but I think you two really are made fer each other. If ya let me, Stump and Chorizo 'ere go, I'll leave you an' yer 'darling psycho' here alone," he offered. Kinski was about to protest again, but got kicked in the leg once more.

Victoria placed the creepy looking saw back down on the table and came up to Bill. She crouched down, grinning. "Sounds like a fair trade...but will you also keep your word and not tell a soul of who I am?" she asked grinning and revealing her little teeth. Bill nodded his head fast.

"Yes, yes! We will! Right boys?" he asked as he turned to Stump and Chorizo. Stump and Chorizo nodded rapidly and said "yes" and " _si_ " multiple times.

Victoria threw her head back and laughed maniacally. " _Right_ , and I will believe you as I wave my magic wand around your bloody little heads! Ha! I wasn't born yesterday, William. Who do you think I am?!" she asked as she reached behind her and grabbed one of the rusty metal tools from the table and came up to Bill. When she was close enough, Bill had already cut himself free with his bowie knife and quickly sliced her hand. Victoria shrieked as she was cut, dropping the tool from her hand.

Bill quickly got up and began slicing the ropes that bound Stump and Chorizo. Victoria gripped her bleeding hand and looked up at Bill. "You bloody bastard!" she screamed. Then she grabbed another tool from the table and came charging toward him.

Bill quickly dodged the weapon and slashed at her hands again. She quickly jumped back, then charged him again. She slashed at his face. Bill dodged it again, but wasn't so lucky when the blade ran across his shoulder. He gritted his teeth to keep from screaming as he quickly jumped away, clutching his shoulder.

Stump and Chorizo had already untied Kinski and were helping him up. Victoria noticed and charged toward them with her surgical tool. The two short outlaws gasped and quickly bolted away, leaving Kinski. Kinski's weak legs gave in on him and he collapsed to the ground, still a bit drowsy from the drug, and for not being able to stretch his legs out for so long. Victoria quickly grabbed him by the hair and placed the blade up to his throat.

"Don't move any closer! Or Kinski becomes my next victim!" she shouted at the three outlaws. Kinski stiffened as he looked down at the blade. Bill, Stump and Chorizo's eyes widened in horror. "Y-You wouldn't kill Kinski, _sinorita._..y-you love him..." Chorizo pointed out. Victoria smiled as she nuzzled her head against the deranged hunchback's head. Kinski clenched his teeth and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I do...I love every bit of him. Enough to where I would kill him...so no one else can have him!" she said, grinning insanely. Kinski looked over to his outlaw friends, silently pleading them to help him. Bill gripped his blade tightly. Victoria pressed the blade gently against Kinski's neck, making the rabbit breathe fast through his twitching nose.

Bill noticed and gradually lowered his hand and dropped the blade at his feet. Vicotia grinned and removed the blade from Kinski's throat. Kinski seemed to relax a bit, but winced when the female rabbit gripped the fistful of his hair tighter. "Good, now be good little boys and sit over there in the corner," she ordered the other three outlaws and pointed the tip of her blade over to the other side of the room.

Bill narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't think so, bitch," he said. Then he kicked the blade at his feet. It skidded along the wooden floor to Kinski. Kinski quickly grabbed it and stabbed Victoria in the leg. Victoria screamed as she let go of his hair and collapsed. Kinski quickly spun around and got to his feet in the process. He grabbed Victoria and gripped her neck tightly with one hand and grabbed her wrist with the sharp surgical knife in the other.

He grinned insanely down at her with wild eyes, feeling funny inside. He began to laugh as he tightened his grip till she gasped. Bill, Stump and Chorizo took a couple steps back in terror as Kinski took care of Victoria. "Let's see how it feels to have a knife against your throat!" Kinski said as he forced her hand with the blade to go against hers. Victoria tried screaming, but Kinski had his hand around her throat, making her unable to scream or breathe. Victoria seemed to smile a bit at Kinski.

The knife ran up against Victoria's neck, piercing the skin and making a small thin line of blood appear. She cried out, but seemed to like it. Bill came up from behind Kinski. "Kinski! Stop!" he said and placed his hand on the rabbit's shoulder. Kinski flinched in panic. He released Victoria and whipped around, socking Bill in the face.

"Don't interrupt me vhen I'm trying to kill! Is very rude!" he shouted. Bill staggered back. Kinski quickly turned back around and grabbed Victoria again. "Now...vhere vere ve?" He asked. Victoria sighed dreamily and in fear. "There's my darling psycho," she said. Kinski narrowed his eyes. Then, without warning, he forced her to walk backwards.

"No!" Stump and Chorizo cried as they watched Kinski force Victoria toward an opened window with tattered fabric around it. Kinski shoved her toward it. Victoria screamed as she went through the window, and fell three stories down. Kinski grinned insanely for a moment. Bill watched Kinski from behind as the deranged rabbit began to sway a bit, then lost his balance and collapsed to the ground. Bill came forward toward the rabbit.

Stump and Chorizo came up to the fallen hunchback rabbit and helped him sit upright. Kinski's eyes were closed, and his body was limp as if he passed out. "Kinski! Wake up!" Stump shouted as he shook the rabbit's shoulders.

Finally, Bill came up, pressing one hand against the side of his own face from where Kinski scratched him. He gently slapped Kinski's face. "Wake up, boy," Bill said. Kinski's eyes snapped open and he jolted up. His chest rose and fell rapidly as if he woke up from a nightmare.

"Vha...vhere...?" he flinched when he found Stump, Chorizo and Bill looking down at him. "You went mad, boy," Bill told him. Kinski blinked as he stared up at Bill. "Mad?" he asked. " _Loco_. Crazy. Insane. Off your rocker," Chorizo told him as he made the crazy sign. Kinski rubbed the side of his head as he shook it.

"I...I dont vremember..." he said. Then he stopped and snapped his head up. "Victoria-!" he started. "You shoved her out the window," Bill said as he pointed to the window a couple feet from them. Kinski's eyes widened in surprise.

The four men all ran toward the window. When they looked down below from the hotel, they expected to see Victoria's dead body sprawled on the dirt road. Instead, all they saw was the dirt ground. They looked around, but Red's daughter's body was nowhere to be found. The only thing they saw was a faint trail of blood leading away from where she must have fallen. It made the four outlaws nervous. She was most likely still alive.

Bill moved away from the window and looked over to Kinski. Kinski was staring down at the ground below. Emotionless. Bill hesitated, then gradually placed his hand on Kinski's shoulder. Kinski flinched and grabbed Bill's wrist at lightning speed. When he saw that it was just Bill, he looked down and realized what he just did and released Bill's hand. "...sorry," he muttered. He turned his head away. Bill shook his head.

"Don't be. I should be the the one apologizing," the Gila monster said. Kinski looked up and turned his head to Bill. Bill continued. "I should have listened to ya when you said you didn't like Em-er-Victoria. I should have asked you about 'er instead of thinkin' you fancied her," Bill said. Kinski stared at Bill in surprise from behind his bangs. Bill averted his eyes away and pretended to cough.

"Well, I think we should all head home now. This has been an eventful night..." he said. Stump, Kinski and Chorizo watched their leader as he grabbed his gun from the table, then left the room. The three did the same and then began single filing through the door. Kinski was the last out of the room where his three friends and him were tied up and almost about to be killed. He stared into the room one last time. "Goodbye, Victoria..." he whispered before leaving.

The End...?

...


	8. Chapter 8: The Outlaw Within

**The Outlaw Within**

...

On a nice hot afternoon, Stump, Kinski and Chorizo were seen hanging outside under the awning of the general store. Kinski sat at the wooden bench drinking out of a bottle of cactus juice. Stump sat at the wooden steps, cleaning the dirt from his fingernails with his family knife, and Chorizo leaned against one of the wooden poles that supported the awning. He stared, looking out toward the entrance and exit of Dirt.

A wagon came in and rode past them. The driver kept his eyes averted from the three outlaws. Kinski growled when it passed. "Easy, boy," Stump joked. Kinski rolled his eyes and drank the rest of his bottle before watching another wagon coming toward them. He chucked the bottle at the moving wagon. It smashed against the wood, causing the boar pulling the wagon to go crazy. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump laughed as they watched the startled boar bolt down the street with the driver trying to stop it.

"Nice one, K," Stump said as he high- fived the hunchback and sat next to him on the bench. Just as he did, he noticed a female bobcat in a dark green dress pass by. He howled to her and did a long whistle. The female flinched and turned to him. Stump grinned, revealing his crooked teeth, taking off his hat and smoothing down his messy, unwashed hair. She gave him a glare, then turned her head and walked on. Stump snickered. "Nice to meet ya too, love," he joked. Chorizo snickered, "She had a nice ass," he commented. Stump snorted, "I think her breasts looked good," he said grinning.

Then, another girl, a female jackrabbit walked by. Chorizo whistled to her. The girl stopped and turned to him. He grinned and winked at her. "Hey, babe," he said. The girl wrinkled her nose. "Ugh," she said, disgusted. Chorizo snickered. "You know you want me, _sinorita."_ he joked. The female jackrabbit turned her nose up and stormed off. The three laughed as she walked off. Then they started to talk about the girls as they walked by, loud enough to be heard.

Kinski tried one, but she didn't understand him, mostly because of his thick German accent. He waved her off and picked up another drink and chugged it down. Then Stump noticed a girl he didn't recognize at the entrance and exit of Dirt. He got up and poked Chorizo to look over to where the girl was.

The female shrew stood at the entrance and exit of Dirt. Next to her was a young boy. Stump's eyes were filled with mischief and he grinned, revealing his long, crooked teeth. "Oh, hey. Look at 'er. She looks like a good one, huh?" teased Stump as he jabbed Chorizo in the arm with his elbow.

Chorizo stared at the female shrew in horror. He couldn't believe it. Stump didn't see and continued to talk to Chorizo. "Think she would be fun fer one night?" laughed Stump. Chorizo narrowed his eyes in rage from the rabbit's words. His eyes flashed red. The shrew turned to the overweight rabbit and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Ow! Hey-!" started Stump. Chorizo interrupted him.

"Shut it, Stump! That's _mi hermana_!" he growled angrily; his eyes glowing red. Stump rubbed his arm. His eyes widened and he closed his mouth shut. Kinski stopped drinking from the bottle he held in his hands and turned to the male shrew in surprise.

After a couple seconds of staring down the shocked short rabbit, Chorizo jumped down from where he sat and walked away. Kinski watched him before turning down to Stump's shocked face. " _Hermana_?" he asked. Stump was quiet for a minute, then finally spoke. "Sister...that's Chorizo's sister..." Stump said. Kinski's eyes widened a bit in surprise. He never knew Chorizo had a sister. He turned to look over to where the three shrews stood.

Chorizo stood awkwardly in front of Isabella and a young male shrew, possibly around four years old. He looked just like his mom, except for his fur. His fur had a reddish tint to it. His hair was short and he wore a white shirt and shorts. His shoes were worn and scuffed up. Isabella wore a grey blue dress with a dark shawl wrapped around herself.

Chorizo rubbed the back of his neck and averted his eyes from both of them. "Hey, sis...long time no see..." he started awkwardly, then tried to open his arms out for an awkward hug. Isabella glared at her older brother. "You are still the worst thing to ever have crawled along this Earth," she spat with a firm Spanish tone. Chorizo felt the guilt come flooding back to him as he lowered his arms down.

He looked up at her and could feel her hatred burning in her eyes. "Then why did you come here? You had to have known I was here..." he asked as he narrowed his eyes. Isabella watched as they turned from yellow to red, just as they always did when he got upset.

"I have no one to turn to...Besides Nico, who I have no idea where he is, you are the only family member I can turn to for help," she answered. Chorizo blinked in confusion, his eyes gradually changing back to their regular mustard yellow.

"Only family member?" he asked. Isabella nodded. Chorizo shook his head. "N-no...What about Beto?" he asked. Isabella sighed. "Chorizo-" she started but Chorizo continued talking in Spanish. "Aren't you and Beto running a business? Starting the family business over-?" he asked, but he felt something was wrong, especially when Isabella's expression changed.

"Chorizo...papa is dead...he died five years ago," she said. Chorizo stopped talking. His eyes widened in horror. " _Q-que_?" he finally got out. Isabella nodded as she began to tell her story.

"When Beto died...I...I was unable to take care of myself. The bank took the business away from me. They didn't think a woman could take over the family business...so I became poor and homeless. The only way I was able to make some money was to become a...a prostitute..." she took a minute to gather herself before continuing.

"That's when I had Dante here," she said as he turned down to the little shrew next to her. She held his hand and squeezed it. Dante looked up at his mother before turning his eyes to Chorizo, his uncle.

Chorizo stared at the boy in shock...He had no idea...

Isabella looked back up at Chorizo, flipping her long bangs out of her face. Chorizo couldn't help but notice how she looked just like their deceased mother. Isabella's face slowly turned back to the stone, cold look.

"I met a man who cared for me, who loved me...but he was killed by an outlaw and his men...now I have no where to go...no one to turn to...All I could find were newspapers telling me that you were with someone named Bad Bill and were last seen around a town called Dirt...so here we are..." she finished.

Chorizo was silent. He was shocked at what his sister had been through for the past five years. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-" "Don't start that, I know you aren't-" Isabella interrupted him, but he interrupted her back. "Will you stop that! I am your _hermano_! I care for you!" he shouted. Isabella narrowed her eyes and turned away from him angrily. Chorizo sighed and lowered his head, looking down at his worn boots. "I'm sorry Isabella...I really am..." Chorizo said. "I wish I knew so I could've help you..." he said. Isabella didn't say anything. The two stood there in awkward silence.

Then Chorizo spoke up again. "Nico-" Chorizo started causing Isabella to turn her head sharply. "I have no idea where Nico is! So the only other family member I have is you!" she shouted in Spanish. Chorizo closed his mouth as he stared at his sister. Isabella glared back. Gradually, Chorizo looked down at his worn boots again.

"I was going to tell you...Nico is living with gypsies. He travels everywhere with them...so you might never see him again," Chorizo said. Isabella didn't answer. When Chorizo looked up, her focus was on Dante, her son.

After a moment of silence, Chorizo spoke again. "You can stay at the mines with me and the gang-" he offered. Isabella's scowl deepened. "I will _not_ allow me and my son to live with you and your...hideous _amigos_!" Isabella shouted in Spanish as she glanced over to Kinski and Stump. Stump and Kinski, who were now standing at the steps of the general store, quickly looked away and pretended not to notice her.

Chorizo glared at his sister. He was starting to get tired of her yelling. "Then where will you go?! You have no money! The hotels wont allow you in without paying! You and Dante can take my couch and sleep for free in the mines-!"

"You disgust me, Chorizo! You decided to become an outlaw and not just be part of the family business-" Then Chorizo snapped.

"I didn't choose to become an outlaw! I didn't want to be part of the business because Beto was cruel to me! You were a baby when it happened! You have no idea how heartless and cruel Beto was! He would beat me; shouting at me to give up my dreams of playing the guitar and work with meat! You have no idea how horrible working with meat is! The smell makes you vomit and you reek for weeks! The blood makes you nauseous and it stains your hair!" he shouted angrily.

Isabella stared at her brother. She didn't say a word. Chorizo's shoulders rose and fell as he glared at his younger sister with burning red eyes. Every time his eyes flashed red they reminded Isabella of their father. Their father's eyes were always red. No matter if he was upset or not.

Chorizo stood there trembling. He was quiet for a moment before continuing.

"That is why I ran away...I ran away so I could start a new life...not be stuck smelling like meat the rest of my life."

Isabella shook her head. "What good is being a musician when you already have a family business? You wont get much money playing music for people. Papa loved you. He told me that everyday. I watched him go into your guys' rooms and weep over your beds for hours. He really did care for you guys. He told me he had a rough life growing up. He risked his life keeping food on the table for you when Edwardo was little. Papa didn't mean to scare you or hurt you...he was only trying to protect you...He wanted to make sure that you were well and healthy and had something to provide for your family when he and mama went away...that was all he wanted from you...but you and Ed didn't seem to see it..." Isabella said.

Chorizo's heart hurt at the mention of Edwardo, their deceased older brother. Isabella never met him, but Chorizo was able to see him...even when he was killed by Tagless. Chorizo's eyes burned red as he felt his throat begin to tighten up. He swore, the day he saw Tagless again, he was going to shoot the bastard for what he did to his older brother.

With that, Isabella gripped her son's hand and looked down at him. "Let's go, Dante." With that, the two shrews left. Chorizo watched them, his heart filling to the brim with guilt. Then Stump came up and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump. "Don't listen to 'er. She has no idea what she's talking about," the short rabbit said.

Chorizo narrowed his eyes and smacked Stump's hand away. He stormed away. Kinski moved out of his way and silently watched him walk down the street in the opposite direction his sister was going. The two jackrabbits watched him till he was out of sight.

...

Chorizo laid on his couch face down and didn't speak to anyone. Even when Bill yelled at him to get up, Chorizo didn't answer. Kinski and Stump left Chorizo alone and went about their daily lives, going out and hanging at the general store and whistling at girls. Of course, deep down, it wasn't the same without Chorizo.

One day, Chorizo was gone from the couch when they came back. Stump and Kinski didn't seem to care and went to their couches to sleep. The days passed and Chorizo didn't return.

"Vhere's Chorizo?" asked Kinski one morning. Stump looked over at Chorizo's couch. His stuff and worn couch laid untouched. It has already been a week since they last saw Chorizo. Stump shrugged as he looked back over at the tall hunchback.

"No idea, K. I'm sure he's fine. We can leave and come back whenever we please. It's not like being with your parents where you have to come back at a certain time," he said. Kinski stared at him blankly. Stump gave him a look. "Didn't you ever have a curfew?" he asked. Kinski's confused look became even more confused. Stump waved it off.

"Never mind. I forget you lived a different life," he said. Kinski narrowed his eyes and balled his hands into fists. "Vhat does zat mean?" he snarled angrily. Stump flinched and quickly sat upright. He decided to change the subject. "Come on, K. Let's go rob the general store for some grub," he said. Kinski's mood gradually changed. The tall rabbit smirked and began to head out of the mines. Stump followed after him.

When they got to the general store, they pulled out their bandannas and guns. Kinski stared down at his dark blue bandanna. "Vont zey know is us? I mean ve are ze usual vrobbers for ze general store. And vear ze same clothes everyday," he pointed out. Stump pulled his yellow bandanna he always wore around his neck over his nose.

"Maybe. But it's fun to play the part. I always loved watching the American western shows on the tele. I've always wanted to be a cowboy when I was little," Stump admitted. Kinski thought for a moment. Then shrugged and tied his bandanna over his mouth. Stump adjusted the bandanna on Kinski before pulling out his gun. "You ready, K?" He asked in a slight muffled voice. Kinski nodded and pulled out his gun.

With that, the two rabbit outlaws walked in single file into the general store. They raised their guns high in the air. "This is a robbery! Git yer hands up!" Yelled Stump in his best manly American accent. Several shoppers froze where they were and lifted their hands up. Kinski winced. "Is zat yer best American accent?" He asked. Stump gave him a look. "I'd say it is. Can you do a better American accent, German boy?" He asked. Kinski gave him a small glare before clearing his throat.

"...Git yer hands up where I can see 'em and put all the _Kohle_ in the-" he stopped and cursed in German. Stump burst out laughing. Kinski shoved him. "Shut up! Let's get ze...vhat's ze vord...?" he asked then rubbed his fingers together to indicate money. Stump stared at him for a minute. "...Cash? Money? Loot?" He asked. Kinski nodded and walked on.

"Money. Ja...fergot ze American vord for a moment..." he muttered. Stump turned to everyone in the store, which was only three people. "Git out!" Everyone bolted. The two rabbits marched up to the counter. Kinski already had a carrot in his mouth from one of the barrels that held vegetables. The figure behind the counter had his back turned to them. Stump slapped his hand down and aimed his gun at the guy's back.

"Give us the damn money or we'll fill you full of lead!" He shouted. The person at the counter turned around. He gave Stump a look. "That is the worst American accent attempt I ever heard, _amigo_." Stump and Kinski gasped at the person at the cash register.

"Ch-Chorizo?!" Stump asked in shock. Kinski and Stump pulled down their bandannas and lowered their guns. Chorizo averted his eyes away from them and pretended to be busy with a couple jars. Just then, Mr. Furgus, the owner of the general store, came in from the back room.

"You doing, allright, Mr. Carnicero?" he asked. Chorizo silently nodded his head. Mr. Furgus looked up and noticed Kinski and Stump. "Oh..." he said. "I'll uh...I'll leave you to it then..." he said. Then he silently turned around and walked back into the back room again. Chorizo stood up and sighed as he looked up at the two rabbits.

"If you are going to steal anything, go ahead, I wont tell _senor_ Furgus," he said. Stump and Kinski's mouths remained hanging on their faces. They couldn't believe what they were seeing! Chorizo was a good citizen! He was working at the general store.

"Chorizo...wh-what...what the bloody hell are you...?" Stump tried spilling out. Kinski spoke for him, "Vhat are you doing vorking for ze general store?" he asked.

Chorizo stared at both of their faces before answering. "I met my sister in town sleeping outside of the hotel with her son. I told them that I would help them, and Isabella told me the only way to was to give up my outlaw days by getting a job at one of the places in town so they could sleep in the hotel. Mr. Furgus wasn't sure at first when I told him the story, but then after some time of gaining trust, he let me work in his store...under his supervision, but all the same," he said.

Stump narrowed his eyes a bit. "So, your sister is the cause of this...turning you into a goody goody?" He asked. Chorizo glared at Stump. "I am not a goody goody! I am just helping my sister till she can get back on her feet and live the life she deserves! I am doing this because she is my sister...and because she is right..." Chorizo's voice faltered. Kinski and Stump exchanged glances. "She's vright?" Kinski asked. Chorizo nodded. "Being an outlaw...that wont get me anywhere!"

"But it's what you are! You became an outlaw because the world is full of arses!" Stump raised his voice. Chorizo didn't say anything and let the short rabbit rant. "We didn't choose to become like this! It was what was supposed to bloody happen! I was raised in a fancy house, but I didn't get treated like royalty, I got treated like shit by me step brothers and sisters! And Kinski here got mistreated by the bloody orphans where he came from!" Stump said as he gestured to the tall hunchback standing next to him. Kinski didn't say anything. Stump glared at Chorizo.

"And you were beaten by your father! Your sister treats you like dirt, so why should you be nice to her then? Let her figure out how to survive life! We did it and we came out alright!" Stump shouted. Just as he said that, Chorizo looked over to Kinski who was staring down inside the barrel of his gun like an idiot, completely ruining Stump's point.

Then his mustard yellow eyes flickered back to Stump with no expression on his face. "Are you done?" he asked.

Stump growled angrily as he whipped out his gun from his holster. Kinski's eyes widened a bit in surprise at Stump's sudden action. Chorizo's expression didn't change as he stared at Stump. "You wont shoot me," he said without flinching at the gun pointed at his face. Stump narrowed his eyes and clicked the hammer back. Chorizo stood straight and stared back at the rabbit. Kinski's eyes flickered back and forth from Chorizo to Stump, not sure what to do.

Finally, Stump lowered his gun and placed it back in his holster. He spat on the counter. Kinski stared at Stump. Stump grumbled something angrily as he glared at Chorizo. "Come on, K. Let's go. This place doesn't get much business anyway," he snarled. With that, he left.

Kinski hesitated as he turned his head and stared at Chorizo. Chorizo continued to stand, he looked up at the hunchback with his eyes changing from yellow to red. Then he looked away and began to put up the rest of the jars on the shelves. Kinski hesitated.

"K! Come on!" yelled Stump angrily. "Go on, Kinski," muttered Chorizo, placing the last jar on the shelf closest to him. Kinski glanced at Chorizo. Finally, he turned around and walked out of the store after Stump.

...

The sun began to set over the mountains till it was gone. After Chorizo's long shift, Chorizo went to the back of the store to collect his money from Mr. Furgus. The old bird gave him the money. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for his sister.

"Rough day today huh? Getting almost robbed by Bad Bill's gang," Mr. Furgus said, starting up small talk. Chorizo didn't answer. Mr. Furgus hesitated before asking. "What did yer friends think when they saw you?" He asked. Chorizo stared down at the money. He knew Mr. Furgus had been listening in on their conversation. Chorizo sighed.

"Stump wasn't all too happy. Kinski I think was just shocked. I couldn't really tell how he felt about it," he admitted. Mr. Furgus tried reading Chorizo's face, but Chorizo was good at hiding his emotions. Mr. Furgus nodded. "Well...hopefully things will turn out better fer you, Mr. Carnicero. I'm glad to have an extra pair of hands around the store. Yer a real good, hard worker," he complimented Chorizo. Chorizo silently pocketed the money.

" _Buenos noches, senor_ Furgus," he said. Mr. Furgus watched as Chorizo walked out of the general store. "Take care, Chorizo," he said.

Chorizo walked along the dark main street in Dirt. His small ears perked up when he heard laughter coming from the saloon. He looked over and heard Bill, Stump and Kinski laughing. There were the sounds of glass shattering and gunshots going off. Kinski was most likely on his sixth bottle by now and was trying to shoot at the dartboard. Stump was most likely cheering him on or balancing a bottle on his head, and Bill was in better spirits.

Chorizo sighed, aching in pain. He dearly wished he could spend time with them. He missed the roughhousing and the havoc they did. The four of them. Chorizo continued walking down the house to the hotel down the street. He walked in and followed along down a narrow hallway till it ended at the bottom of a flight of stairs. He walked up them and made it to the next floor where another hallway of doors was. He walked down the hallway and stopped in the middle. He knocked on one of the doors.

"Who is it?" Asked his sister from the other side. Chorizo sighed softly. "Chorizo." The door opened. Isabella opened the door for him. He came in. "What took you so long? You should've been here sooner," Isabella said in Spanish as she closed the door. Chorizo took off his work clothes and just wore a shirt and shorts. Dante was seen on the floor playing with a toy. Chorizo waved to him. Dante kept his eyes down. Chorizo slowly lowered his arm and went to put up his work clothes. He grabbed the money from his coat and handed it to Isabella. Isabella took it and went off to go count it.

"Is this it?" She asked, coming back after a couple of minutes. Chorizo nodded his head. Isabella narrowed her eyes. "This is less than yesterday," she complained. Chorizo shrugged. "There was a robbery at the store today," he said. Isabella glared. "Was it your outlaw friends?" She asked. Chorizo turned away. "They took the money. That's all that was left," he lied. Isabella huffed, but didn't bother to fight her brother.

"Dante. You go wash up with your uncle. Its suppertime," she said. Chorizo and Dante both walked to the bathroom to go wash up for dinner...

...

The next day, Chorizo woke up early and walked down to the general store. Mr. Furgus told Chorizo to stock up the shelves. Chorizo did as he was told and began stocking the shelves in the middle down the store.

It wasn't long until Bill came in to the general store. Chorizo averted his eyes from the heavyset Gila monster and continued stocking the shelves. Bill stopped next to him and chuckled softly. "Had to come in and see for myself. Stump and Kinski told me how you was working the general store."

Chorizo didn't answer and continued stocking the shelves. Bill smirked and lit his cigar. Mr. Furgus had told Chorizo to kick out anyone who started smoking in the general store, but he kept his mouth shut for Bill.

"How's it going by the way? The whole good citizen thing?" He asked. It didn't really sound like Bill was upset or making fun of Chorizo for choosing to go good. Chorizo shrugged. Bill took a puff from his cigar and blew out. "Heard your sister came to town. Needing some help with finding a place to live...that right?" He asked. Chorizo silently nodded. Bill blew out the smoke.

"Say...me and the boys were gonna rob the bank today. You're invited to come along. Take a break from this good citizen stuff. Give you a cut to help your sister," Bill offered. Chorizo hesitated. Bill noticed. "I can tell you really miss it. You're gonna kill yourself working so much to keep your sister happy. I heard she's a bit of a tough one," Bill added. Chorizo slowly nodded his head.

"She hates me. She doesn't understand," Chorizo finally said. Bill blew out another puff of smoke. "They never do. Be easier if you just came and helped us with the robbery. Give her a cut of the money, and let her go on her way," Bill said. Chorizo went silent. Bill placed his cigar back into his mouth before patting Chorizo's back.

"You're still invited to join us. We'd really appreciate having you come along...not the same without you," Bill added. With that, Bill adjusted his belt around his pants, turned and left the general store. Chorizo stopped stocking the shelves and stared down at the jar in his hands. Deep in thought to what his old boss said.

Leave the general store. Rob the bank. Come back and quit his job. Give Isabella the money. Make her leave. It seemed all so nice, but not simple. Isabella hated his outlaw life. He wanted to prove to her that he could be a good person. He just wanted her to not hate him. Besides Nico...she was the only close family he had left...

Chorizo's ears perked up when he heard a loud alarm go off and the sound of gunshots from outside the general store. Chorizo quickly rushed over to the window and pressed his face up against the glass. The sounds were coming from the bank down the street. Chorizo quickly rushed out and looked down the street.

Everyone else was standing in the dirt road, looking towards the bank. Chorizo heard a couple near him murmur about how the bank was being robbed. Sure enough, Chorizo heard gunshots, Kinski's crazy laugh, and a sudden explosion after.

Clouds of dust billowed out from the huge gap in the bank. Bill, Stump and Kinski staggered out over the rubble near the entrance with bags of money in their hands. Chorizo's heart raced. He really badly wanted to go run down there and join them, but he didn't have his gun on him, and he could hear Isabella in his head telling him to stay. He shifted uncomfortably where he stood. He made a promise to Isabella...but at the same time...

Kinski and Stump jumped onto a wagon with a tied javelina near them. Bill was staggering behind them, shooting at the sheriff and his posse. Stump whipped the reins and the wagon lurched forward. Bill fired off a couple more rounds before jumping on. The wagon took of down the road in the direction of the general store. Close behind was the Sheriff on his runner. Chorizo took a step forward till he was almost out from under the awning of the general store.

He could see that the sheriff was close to the wagon. Bill and Kinski were trying to lose the sheriff, but it was no use. Chorizo could see that they were getting closer and closer. Chorizo looked down at his hands. He still held a jar of peaches from when he was stocking the shelves inside. He looked up, they were getting closer. Chorizo hesitated, feeling the weight of the glass jar of peaches in his hands. He eyed the sheriff's runner. He tensed up and got ready, shifting his foot back.

The wagon got closer.

The sheriff got closer.

Chorizo took aim.

Right when the sheriff and his runner were where he wanted them to be, Chorizo threw the jar. The jar landed in front of the runner with a loud crash, causing the bird to stop in its tracks. The bird screeched and flapped its wings, causing the sheriff to get sent flying off and landing in the dirt road. Chorizo grinned as he watched the wagon pass by.

Bill smirked and tipped his bowler hat to Chorizo. Kinski laughed his crazy laugh and clapped in applause to Chorizo. "Nice vone, Cho!" he called out. Stump laughed seeing the sheriff get taken down and gave Chorizo a quick thumbs up.

The wagon took off down the dirt road and out of town, back to the abandoned mines. Chorizo turned when he saw the posse helping the sheriff up to his feet. "You all right, sheriff?" asked one of the posse members that looked like a beaver. The sheriff shrugged their hands off him. He turned and pointed at Chorizo.

"You! Don't think I didn't see that horrible display of helping your friends git away!" The sheriff snapped his fingers. "Handcuff him. For helping a couple outlaws git away, and for scaring my runner."

Chorizo was handcuffed and taken to the town jail.

...

He stayed in the jail all through the night and till the next day. Chorizo was used to it, but it wasn't his biggest concern. All he could think about was Isabella and Dante. They relied on him to pay for the room they were staying in. He worried that the landlord, who relied on them paying on time every night, would kick Isabella and Dante out, and she would come up with the conclusion that he was in the town jail and see how much of a failure he was.

He sighed and decided to deal with Isabella's yelling in the morning...

When it was morning, Chorizo asked to be taken out of the jail. The sheriff ignored him. Chorizo wanted to curse up a storm, he needed to get back to work. He needed to help his sister. After a while he just gave up and sat back down in the cot. He was going to have to wait till the sheriff let him out on good behavior...or hopefully Bill and the gang came to bust him out. Kinski always loved being able to use the TNT when one of them got stuck in the town jail.

Chorizo sat and went into deep thought. Waiting.

He was fed at breakfast. Chorizo started to believe that the gang wasn't coming to bust him out of the jail. Later, he couldn't take it and got out of the jail himself. It wasn't easy. It involved a fork, water, a paperclip and some wishful thinking.

Once he was out, he made his way back to the hotel. Once he was there he went inside and up the stairs to the room. He knocked on the door. No answer.

Chorizo called out Isabella's name, but she didn't answer. He assumed she was out on an errand. He called for Dante. No answer. He never heard the kid speak so he assumed the kid wouldn't answer back.

He pulled out a key of his own and unlocked the door. Chorizo stopped dead in his tracks. The whole room looked like a hurricane just blown through it. Tables and chairs were turned. Glass was shattered. Curtains were shredded to ribbons.

"Isabella! Dante!" He cried out. They were nowhere to be found. They were gone. Possibly taken. But why? He thought of Bill and the others, then shook his head. No. They wouldn't have kidnapped his sister and nephew. Unless they did to get Chorizo back to being a bad guy...but that would have been stupid. He just helped them get away from the sheriff after robbing the bank yesterday, and they knew not to mess with his family.

Chorizo looked around for any clues to help him figure out where his sister and nephew were. It didn't take him long to finally find the note and small dagger pinned to the back of the door.

Chorizo's hands shook as he read the note:

 _Come to the Spine Canyons if you want your sister and her son to live. They die at noon on Wednesday._ _Don't bother asking your friends to help you. They are with us too._

 _They all die at noon._

 _-Tyrone the Terror/Tagless_

Tagless?!

Memories came flooding back of Tagless, the scrawny, annoying meerkat boy who was a slave on Elfonzo's plantation. He couldn't believe it. the damn bastard found him again. He was still in a vendetta mood with Chorizo. First killing his brother, and now he wants to kill his sister, nephew and friends as well. All for getting him caught and tagged.

Chorizo narrowed his eyes. Tagless was here... Chorizo crumpled the note and chucked it across the small room. It smacked against the wall and fell to the floor with a plop. Chorizo clenched his teeth together angrily.

No. He had to be lying. Bill, Stump and Kinski could take care of themselves. They could have easily taken down Tagless...unless he had some help with him. Chorizo decided to go and investigate. He grabbed his hat from the bed, as well as his serape and guns, dashed out of the room, down the stairs and out the door toward the mines.

...

It wasn't long before he arrived at the mines. Chorizo jumped off the runner he stole from town and headed into the mines. He cautiously pulled out his gun and walked into the mines. He listened for any movements or sounds. Nothing. He stepped in and looked around. The place was more messy then usual. Tables and chairs were in opposite directions in the room. Crates were broken and food was left scattered. Flies had gotten to them and the place stank of turning fruit.

"Stump! Bill! Kinski?" Chorizo called. No answer. He examined the room. He stared down at the ground. There were more footprints. It was a surprise attack. Six against three. He looked around some more. He saw slash marks on the wall. Bill must have pulled out his Bowie knife to defend himself. Of course it didn't go as planned for him.

Chorizo crouched down when he saw some red stuff on a broken chair in the corner of his eye. It was blood. Most likely Kinski's blood. Kinski must have not had his gun on him and wildly lashed out at the intruders, only to get a chair to the face and knocked unconscious. Stump must have been the only one to not fight the intruders and raised his hands up in surrender.

Chorizo sighed. If only he were with them. He could have helped them...Chorizo turned back and walked out. He had two hours till noon. It was going to take him a while to head to the Spine Canyons. He turned to his runner. If he wanted to get to the Spine Canyons before noon, he had to take off now. With that, he mounted the runner and headed towards the directions of the Spine Canyons.

Chorizo was familiar with the Spine Canyons. It was between the towns of Dirt and Grime, a little off to the left past a cluster of Spanish Daggers. The place was very dangerous and only a few outlaws go there to hideout. Kinski, Stump and himself went over there one time and found a ton of dynamite one outlaw had quickly stashed away a couple days before. One thing lead to another and before long, Kinski had lit the long fuse that connected to the boxes and they ran screaming before the explosion went off. It was a fun day.

Chorizo kept a sharp eye out for anything that might be a trap. Soon he came upon the Spine Canyons. A canyon that zigzagged and stretched on for miles. Inside, jutting from its sides, were sharp rock formations. To Chorizo, it looked like a monster from the underworld, trying to come up to the surface and has its mouth open, revealing its sharp quartz teeth.

Of course, in the other section of the canyons was where they blew up part of it, and it looked like that said "beast" had lost a good portion of teeth and just had gums. He rode along a different path that wasn't the main path. Bill showed them it, so they knew which path to take. It was the "outlaw's path" he told them. Never take the main path.

The runner started getting frisky and making noise. Chorizo got off the runner and tried calmly whispering to it. The runner settled down as Chorizo gave it some food to eat, also to distract it. When the runner was calm, Chorizo continued on through the canyon on foot.

He quietly snuck around boulders and sharp jagged "teeth." The place had all sorts of small tunnels and hiding spots. Perfect for any outlaw. It was a gunslinger palace.

It wasn't long before the shrew bandito came across an opening and found Bill, Stump, and Kinski sitting or laying on the ground, covered in blood. They didn't look too good. Chorizo gasped as he came running up to his outlaw friends.

" _Dios Mio!_ What happened _?_ " he asked as he stood there, staring down at Bill, Stump and Kinski on the ground with blood spattered everywhere. Bill heaved heavily as he used his Bowie knife to pull out a couple bullets from his shoulder. Thankfully his skin was tough. Kinski was seen a couple feet away, knocked out cold. Blood stained his face. Stump coughed up blood and struggled to get to his feet, but collapsed. Chorizo went over to him and helped him up.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked again. Stump groaned as he lifted his head up to Chorizo. "It...was...that meerkat...the one...you called...Tagless..." he groaned as he held his side. Chorizo had told them before about his story, with Tagless killing his older brother.

Stump coughed some more before continuing. "Your sister...she escaped with her son before...they could...finish us...off..." Stump coughed some more as more blood dribbled down his mouth.

Chorizo carefully placed his friend down and found a scrap of cloth. He handed it to Stump, who accepted it and placed it up to his mouth. "You should leave...before...they come back..." Stump added. Chorizo stared at Stump before standing up. He was right. The men might have caught up to her sister and were possibly heading back any minute now.

Just then, Chorizo heard the sounds of footsteps coming to where they were. Stump nudged Chorizo. "Hurry! L-leave!" he said quickly before coughing up blood again. Chorizo quickly ran and hid behind a boulder.

Chorizo watched from behind the boulder as a bunch of dirty men roughly grabbed the three wounded outlaws and dragged them over to the canyon wall and made them sit up against it. One of Tagless' men smacked Kinski upside the head.

"Wake up, freak!" he snarled. Kinski groaned and his head lolled to the side. He looked worse off. The man gripped Kinski's hair and forced him to look up. Kinski's eyes were half open, his mouth opened and some blood spilled out. He groaned in pain.

"Leave him alone, asshole. Unless you want to lose an eye," Bill snarled. Tagless' gang just laughed. The laughing stopped when a new set of footsteps were heard. Chorizo's eyes widened, then flashed red. Tagless appeared.

It had been a while since Chorizo last saw Tagless. Tagless had muscles and was way taller then the last time he saw him. He wore fingerless leather gloves and had bandages around his arms. His clothes were brown and maroon. He looked like he had been places across the seas. He wore knives around his body like jewelry and a gold leafed gun at his hip. One of his ears was grotesque. It was the same ear he ripped the tag from. It had healed over in a disgusting, deformed way.

"Just tie them up," Tagless commanded. "We can turn them in for the reward money...though if they misbehave...we don't have to turn them in _alive._ " Bill and the rabbits flinched. Tagless and his men laughed. Chorizo gritted his teeth angrily at the sight of the meerkat outlaw. What really pissed him off was when he saw him with his sister, Isabella and her son, Dante. One of Tagless' men pulled Dante away from his mom. Dante screamed and kicked angrily.

"Mama!" he cried. "Dante!" shouted Isabella as she tried grabbing her son back, but Tagless roughly gripped her arm and held her tightly against him. He pressed his gun against her jawline. She spat in his face. Tagless snarled and wiped the spit off with the back of his hand. Then he pressed the gun deeper into her jawline.

"Do that again and I'll tell Cortez to shoot your son," he threatened. Isabella's eyes widened in terror as she turned her head to her son. Dante was seen in front of the burly rodent named Cortez and had a gun to his head.

Chorizo pulled out his gun and aimed it at Cortez. He was so full of anger and hate. Something inside him told him not to do it, but it was being drowned out by the louder voice in his head.

Chorizo heard Isabella say something to Tagless, but didn't catch it. He fired his shot at Cortez. Cortez shrieked and released the boy. Dante ran over to his mom. Isabella ran out of Tagless' grip and hugged Dante tightly. Tagless and the rest of his men looked around. Cortez wailed in pain as he gripped his arm where he got shot. Tagless looked around with rage in his eyes. He turned to Bill and the two rabbits.

"Which one of you did that?" He barked angrily. Bill didn't move or say anything. Stump did the same. Kinski was face down in the dirt, unresponsive. Tagless came up to the Gila Monster

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? For a moment you had a mouth...suddenly you don't. Who shot Cortez?" He growled. Bill just shrugged. Stump did the same. "Must've been the wind," said Stump. Tagless was not amused by the rabbit's answer. He went over and grabbed Isabella again. Isabella and Dante fought against him, but Tagless was too strong. He kicked the boy away.

Tagless gripped Isabella's arm tightly as he held the gun up to her face with the other. Before he could do anything, another shot was heard. Tagless screamed when he felt the bullet hit his gun, causing him to let go of it as if it were on fire. The gun fell to the ground. All of Tagless' men aimed their guns at Bill and his gang. Bill's and Stumps eyes widened in terror. Kinski lifted his head up and came to just as the sounds of multiple hammers were clicked back.

"Did I miss somezing?" He mumbled. Stump told him to shush. Tagless raised his hand up to his men to put down their weapons. A smirk played on his face as he began to look around the area in the canyon they were all in.

"I'm glad to see that you got my note, Chorizo...I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up," Tagless said out loud. Chorizo moved from boulder to boulder. His heart beating furiously in his chest. He didn't answer. He knew Tagless was going to shoot him if he revealed where he was. Tagless kept talking, but then silently motioned for his men to go look for Chorizo. Isabella got out of Tagless' grasp.

"They are coming for you, Chorizo!" She screamed. Tagless wrapped his arms around her and placed his hand over her mouth while his men continued to look around the boulders and rocks. Moving though the maze of sharp rocks.

Chorizo moved quietly away from them, but he was running out of places to hide. The men were closing in on him fast. He pulled out his gun. His heart was beating so loud, he was afraid the men could hear it. He came upon one of the men looking down a hole. Thankfully he had his back to him. Chorizo acted fast. He raised his gun, using it as a club, and striking the man hard against the back of his head. Chorizo grabbed under the mans arms before he collapsed to the ground and gently set him down, not making any noise in the process.

Chorizo looked around a boulder to see where Tagless was. Tagless was looking off to the right. Chorizo could see the gang on the other side, and his sister and nephew. Tagless spoke again.

"Come on out, Chorizo...I know you are out there. You can't hide for long. You are out numbered. Why don't you just give up and join your little friends over here," Tagless said with his arm out in a taunting way, the other still around Isabella. He looked around from where he stood with Isabella and Dante. His ears twitched for any sounds. Chorizo held his breath as he watched Tagless from where he stood.

One of Tagless' men came close to seeing him. Chorizo took off his sombrero and chucked it in the opposite direction. The hat made contact with some loose rocks, causing them to tumble. The creature stopped when he heard the noise and went to go investigate the sound, giving Chorizo enough time to run to another boulder, out of the gang's sight.

Several other times he was able to silently take out the gang members who were searching for him. Chorizo kept really quiet and calm during the whole thing.

After a while of waiting for his men to come back with Chorizo, Tagless began to get tired of waiting. He grabbed a gun from the holster of Manny, the gang member watching over Bill and his gang. He pointed the gun at Isabella again. He held Isabella in front of him like a shield this time.

"Alright! I'm getting bored! Hurry up and give up, Carnicero! or your sister is gonna get it! I'm gonna shoot at the count of _tres!"_ he shouted. " _Uno_...!" he cocked his gun. Isabella and Dante gasped. "Mama!" Dante cried, but was pulled back by Cortez. " _Dos_...!" Tagless shouted. Bill, Stump, and Kinski's eyes widened. Chorizo couldn't take it any longer he jumped out from his hiding place. "Stop!" he cried. Tagless spun around and pulled the trigger.

 _Bang!_

The bullet grazed Chorizo's shoulder and ricocheted off the boulder behind him. Kinski, Bill and Stump turned their heads to Chorizo. Their mouths dropped in shock. "Git out of here you idiot! Yer outnumbered!" Bill shouted. "Shut up!" Manny snarled and smacked Bill in the head. Bill growled and kicked him. Manny smacked Bill harder, causing Bill to stop.

Tagless grinned at the sight of Chorizo. He pulled Isabella over with him and came up to the wounded shrew. "Chorizo! It's been so long!" He said in Spanish. Isabella had tears coming down her face as she stared down at her brother. Chorizo was on his knees, clenching his teeth and gripping his shoulder where he got hit.

Tagless placed his boot on Chorizo's wounded shoulder, causing the shrew to cry out in pain. Isabella struggled in Tagless' grasp. "Stop it!" She screamed in Spanish and kicked the meerkat.

Tagless growled and shoved her to the ground. "A fiesty sister you have there, I've been watching you for the past couple days. Rumors were floating around saying that you resided here. Couldn't help but to see for myself if they were true..." Tagless eyed Chroizo. "You cost me everything. You ruined my reputation and my life," he said. Chorizo turned his head up to look at Tagless. His eyes went red and stayed red.

"You killed my hermano," Chorizo said. Isabella's eyes widened a little. Tagless sneered. "He did it to himself. You both did." Tagless kicked Chorizo in the face. Isabella and the gang gasped. Tagless' two other men laughed. Chorizo slowly staggered to his feet. Tagless kicked him again. Chorizo went down. He tried getting up again but was kicked down by Tagless once more. Blood flowed out of Chorizo's mouth and nose. Chorizo stayed down, even when Tagless jeered at him to get up again.

After a while of waiting, Chorizo got up, but was instantly punched in the gut by the meerkat. The two outlaws of Tagless laughed. Bill, Stump, Kinski, Isabella and Dante watched in horror. Chorizo got punched again and again as Tagless continued, and said horrible things to him in Spanish.

Finally, Chorizo staggered to his feet and blocked Tagless' punch. "You killed my brother, and now threatened to kill my sister and friends...all because you got caught and got your ear tagged. Are you serious? That's the stupidest excuse I have ever heard. You are weak. I'd feel bad to see how you would be if you had both ears tagged. You are too full of yourself...your mom would-" he was cut off and sent back to the ground again.

Chorizo was down.

Tagless laughed and slowly approached the shrew. "This was fun...we should do this again sometime, amigo..." he said sarcastically as he stopped before Chorizo's body. The meerkat smirked and reached for his gun. He stopped smiling when he realized that his gun was gone. "Wha-?" he asked.

Suddenly, Chorizo got up and aimed his gun at Tagless' face. Everyone gasped in surprise. Chorizo grabbed Tagless' gun before he could. "You bastard!" Tagless shouted. Tagless' remaining men pulled out their guns. Chorizo turned and shot their guns out of their hands. "Don't try me," he warned them. Tagless' eyes widened in terror. Chorizo slowly turned the gun to the meerkat. He coughed as he staggered to his feet, shaking from being beaten up so much.

Tagless quickly grabbed Isabella once again and used her as a shield. Isabella fought him but he struck her, causing her to stop. "Go ahead! Take your chance! Risk shooting your sister!" Tagless shouted. Isabella had tears streaming down her face. "Dont do it, Chorizo," she pleaded. Tagless enjoyed seeing her fear and pressed his head against hers.

"Don't want to make a mistake and lose another one of your bastard siblings again..." Tagless teased. Isabella stared at Chorizo with teary eyes. She was scared. Terrified. Suddenly, everything seemed to move in slow motion for Chorizo. He turned his head to look over where Dante and his friends stood. They were all staring at him. They too were scared. Chorizo turned back to Tagless. The corners of Tagless' mouth were slowly curling up into a grin. As he did, Chorizo suddenly had flashbacks of his brother. Edwardo. He remembered back to when he first encountered him. Back at Elfonzo's ranch...

 _"The hell you doin' up 'ere, nino? You ain't supposed to be up 'ere," said the rat guy Chorizo saw earlier. Chorizo's eyes widened as he stared at the rat guy. He had red eyes, just like his dad, and he had black hair, just like his mom. The creature removed his hand from Chorizo's mouth and stared back at him in confusion._

 _"What? You got a problem or something? Answer my question!" he snarled in a low but harsh tone._

 _..._

 _Suddenly, a strange creaking sound was heard. The rat boy and Chorizo flicked their heads up and exchanged confused glances. Suddenly, the loft gave in and broke. The two boys screamed as they fell and crashed down to the ground. Thankfully there were bundles of hay below, cushioning their landing._

 _Chorizo spat out some bits of straw from his mouth and shoved the broken wooden wood from him. He looked up just in time to see multiple ends of rifles pointed right at his face. He froze and slowly raised his arms up. Mr. Elfonzo came up and glared down at the young shrew. "Ah, so that's where you've been hidin', Mr. Carnicero, I was afraid you fell in with El Chupacabra... again," teased the huge squirrel. Chorizo gave Mr. Elfonzo a confused look when he all the sudden felt a couple splintered boards move and the rat guy appear next to him._

 _"I wasn't hiding, and don't talk about your monster around me!" the rat boy snapped at the squirrel. Mr. Elfonzo's ears flicked in annoyance, but he seemed to be used to the rodent's snappy comebacks. His eyes finally flickered down to Chorizo. His eyes seemed to widen a bit in surprise, but then relaxed and looked back to the rat boy._

 _"I see you finally met your hermano, si?" he asked as he pointed to Chorizo. The rat boy gave the squirrel a confused look. "Hermano? What are you talking about? I dont have a..." his voice faltered as he turned his red eyes down to Chorizo. Chorizo stared back. "E-Edwardo?" he asked. The rat boy's eyes widened as if he got slapped in the face._

 _"S-si...a-are you...er...d-did you h-have a madre named...Rosa Carnicero?" he asked. Chorizo nodded. "...A-and a padre...named Beto?" Edwardo asked. Chorizo nodded. Edwardo stared at his thirteen year old brother. "Chorizo..." he finally said. Chorizo couldnt keep the tears back. He finally threw his arms around his older brother and hugged him tightly. Edwardo jolted at the sudden action and continued to stare at the young shrew._ _Chorizo finally moved away from his brother and stared up at him. He couldnt believe it. He finally found his long lost brother!_

Chorizo felt tears come to his eyes as more memories came rushing into his head. He tried forgetting about them, but they were still there. The good ones, and the bad ones. Edwardo was the best older hermano he ever had. Edwardo was always there for him. Thick and thin, he was always there, being a caring older brother when Chorizo was down...

 _Chorizo and Edwardo were both pushed into a stable, then Tagless was taken into the one next door and both stable doors were locked. "Hope you bastards like your new home. I hope you all rot in here," Calderone snickered as he left with his friends. Edwardo groaned angrily as he slumped down on the cold hard ground and held his head._

 _Chorizo lowered his head down and felt tears come to his face. It was all his fault. Everything he did only made matters worse. His shoulders shook and he finally collapsed to his knees. Edwardo lifted his head up and turned his head over to his younger brother. He noticed Chorizo was upset and touched his shoulder._

 _"Chorizo-?" he started, but Chorizo flinched and shifted away from him. "This is all my fault..." he sobbed. Edwardo's tagged ear flicked as he stared down at his brother. He scooted closer and touched Chorizo's shoulder again. "No, Chorizo...this isnt your fault...you didn't do anything wrong," he said. Chorizo didn't say anything. Edwardo smiled a small smile._

 _"If you didnt say anything, I bet we would've been thrown into El Chupacabra pit by now. We should both be grateful that we are here together...You saved our lives, Chorizo," he added. Chorizo wiped his wet eyes and gradually turned his head to Edwardo. Edwardo gave his brother a hug. Chorizo wrapped his arms around him and sobbed some more..._

 _..._

 _Edwardo's eyes flickered to the belt around his younger brother's waist. He reached down and pulled out the slingshot. "How did you get this?" Edwardo asked in shock as he held it up at his eye level and ran his fingers over the surface. Chorizo blinked, realizing he still had his slingshot. He never took it out of the leather loop from the belt Nico gave him._

 _"That's my slingshot-" Chorizo started. "This was my slingshot when I was a nino," said Edwardo as he stared at the slingshot with a huge smile on his face. I used to try and hit those damn worms that came out of the ground near our house..." Edwardo said as he lightly stretched the strings back with his finger hooked in the leather pouch._

 _Chorizo blinked in surprise. The slingshot was Edwardo's? He never knew that. Why didn't his parents tell him? Why didn't they tell him anything about his older brother?_

 _"I wonder if I still have good aim..." Edwardo muttered as he looked around for a rock. He picked one up and looked around for something to hit. He eyed the hole in the wall where Tagless was in line of. Tagless sat in the middle of his own blood, holding his bleeding ear still._

 _Edwardo positioned himself and placed the rock in the little pouch and pulled it back. He closed one eye and took careful aim. He let go of the leather pouch, the rock went through the hole, hitting Tagless in the side of the face._

 _Tagless yelped a surprise yelp then began to curse angrily. Chorizo couldnt help but laugh. Edwardo snickered as he lowered the slingshot and tossed it back to Chorizo. "Gracias, hermano," Edwardo whispered. Chorizo smiled and placed his slingshot back, just as Tagless was coming over to the wall with the hole and cursing at them and calling them harsh names..._

...

 _Chorizo narrowed his eyes and climbed up to the very small broken window above his head. The window was very small, which made it impossible for the shrews to escape through, but that wasn't Chorizo's intention._

 _He rested his arms on the ledge as he pulled out his slingshot. Edwardo stopped slamming up against the door and tried calming himself down. As he did, he noticed Chorizo up near the small window. He climbed up and stood next to him. Not too far away, was Calderone, limping his way down the small path back to the barn. Outside looked a bit cloudy and light sprinkles of rain were coming down._

 _Chorizo picked up a rock and placed it into the leather pocket. Then he lifted the slingshot and rested the bottom part on the windowsill and pulled the stretchy strings back. Edwardo stared at his younger brother, then over to Calderone. Gradually, he realized what Chorizo was doing and shook his head._

 _"He's too far away, Chorizo, you wont get that bastard," he said. Chorizo ignored him and took aim. He let go of the leather pouch. Calderone jumped and cursed up a storm. He looked down at the back of his leg where he got hit. Chorizo grinned and looked up at Edwardo, who was speechless._

 _"Woah! I stand corrected."_

 _Calderone lifted his head toward them, and the Carnicero brothers quickly ducked back down and began to laugh. Seeing Calderone pissed off was priceless. "You must have been practicing with that thing for a long time! I bet you never miss," said Edwardo grinning to Chorizo. Chorizo smiled at Edwardo's words. He felt very confident in himself..._

Chorizo smiled a small smile, laughing as more tears came down his face. He was possibly close to death, that's why the sudden memories were flooding back. He wiped them away as more memories came to him. Then it came close to the end of the ones with Edwardo, and Chorizo knew it was coming. He was afraid. He was afraid to relive it. He didn't want to. So many nightmares...so much pain and agony...Edwardo. Chorizo sobbed and placed his hand over his wet eyes...

 _..._

 _Chorizo gawked in shock at the tall meerkat. He couldn't believe it. It was Tagless, the same meerkat that he thought fell to his death over the cliff at Elfonzo's ranch! Chorizo stiffened when Tagless cracked his knuckles at his sides. His dark brown glaring eyes twitched a bit. His mouth twitched into forms of off-set smirks, but then would vanish and he would become serious and threatening. Then the meerkat turned his head and spat out something from his mouth, but still continued to glare at Chorizo._

 _His hair was all matted and he had a huge gash running along one side of his face. His teeth were yellow and rotten and he looked like he had grown a lot taller. Chorizo could still see the huge rip in his ear from the time he got tagged. He wore a dark colored serape with a hood, and pants with a gun belt with a gun and holster hanging loosely from his hips. His tail twitched behind him._

 _"It's been a while...Carnicero..." he said. His voice was deep and dark. It made Chorizo's fur stand up. Tagless began to approach the shrew. Chorizo took a couple steps back in fear. He raised his slingshot to Tagless' face, but didn't fire. "I-I...I th-thought you died..." he stuttered nervously. Tagless bared his teeth a bit. "Barely...No thanks to you..." he spat bitterly as he continued to slowly walk to Chorizo._

 _Chorizo shook his head nervously. "B-but...C-Calderone...H-he pushed you o-over the cliff!" he said with a small harsh tone, but failed from his stutter. Tagless snorted, and then laughed an insane laugh before going quiet and stone faced again. "If it weren't for you bastards...it would never have happened...None of it would ever have happened..." The corners of his mouth twitched into a creepy smile, but then disappeared quickly and became dark and scary. "You two are the worst things to ever have been born on this hell hole of a planet."_

 _Chorizo took a couple more steps back as Tagless continued to approach him. His eyes twitched uncontrollably, but he never left them from Chorizo. Chorizo gulped as he noticed Tagless flick his serape over, revealing the revolver in the holster. It gleamed brightly in the light, but it wasn't the only thing that was shown._

 _Underneath the serape, Tagless didn't wear a shirt, revealing his damaged arms and chest from the fall of the cliff. They were scraped and covered in huge scars, black scabs, and missing fur. Chorizo gasped in horror, then watched as Tagless pulled out his gun and pulled the serape back over so He couldn't see the scars anymore._

 _"You and yer shit head of a brother deserved to fall over that cliff," he snarled._

 _Chorizo gasped when he felt his back hit against something. He turned around and found that he backed up into a wooden post. Suddenly, he felt Tagless grab his neck and dig his nails into his flesh. Chorizo dropped his slingshot and tried to scream, but Tagless squeezed harder, cutting the air from him. Tagless glared down at Chorizo._

 _Chorizo struggled in the meerkat's grip. Tagless pulled out his revolver and clicked the hammer back. Then he raised the nose to Chorizo's face. "...Adios, Carnicero," Tagless said with an evil smirk. His eyes twitched in insanity. Chorizo froze and squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, a loud sound was heard. Tagless screamed in pain, thus releasing Chorizo. Chorizo fell to the ground. He gasped for air and coughed._

 _He looked up and saw his brother looming over Tagless, who was seen crumpled on the ground and holding his head. In Edwardo's hands he held a shattered glass bottle. Tagless turned and glared up at Edwardo as he rubbed the back of his bleeding head. "Git up you pathetic worm," said Edwardo through his clenched teeth._

 _Tagless didnt get up. Edwardo kicked him hard in the mouth, causing Tagless to fall back and scream in pain. "I said git up!" he shouted. Tagless rolled in the ground as his blood began to pour out of his mouth and stain the dirt._

 _Chorizo stared up at his brother in amazement. He saved him just in time. Edwardo looked over to Chorizo. "You ok, Chorizo?" he asked. Chorizo nodded his head. Edwardo nodded back, then turned his focus back to Tagless. Tagless slowly got up onto his knees. Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he glared up at Edwardo with hatred. Edwardo glared back with his dark red eyes and raised the shattered glass bottle. "You want another helping?" he threatened._

 _Tagless didn't say anything as his dark brown eyes flickered over to his right. Edwardo's eyes followed Tagless' and he noticed Tagless' gun sitting a couple feet away from the meerkat. Instantly, the two lunged for the gun. They both grabbed it and began to wrestle each other in the dirt. Chorizo stood up and watched the two grunt and cuss angrily to pry the gun out of the other's hands._

 _To Chorizo's horror, Tagless grabbed the gun. He quickly scrambled to his feet, turned around, and shot Edwardo twice in the stomach. Chorizo's heart stopped in total shock as Edwardo gasped and collapsed to his side. The sound of the gun ringed in Chorizo's ears. "Nooo!" screamed Chorizo as he ran up to his brother and went down on his knees next to him._

 _Blood gushed out of Edwardo's stomach and stained his arms. Chorizo tried helping his brother up, but got drenched in his blood instead. Chorizo stared down at his brother's blood on his hands in terror and felt tears streaming down his face. His mouth was open in a silent, traumatized scream._

 _Edwardo forced his eyes open and slowly turned his bloody head up to Chorizo. Chorizo looked down at him and cried. "P-please d-d-don't die..." Chorizo cried. Edwardo winced in pain and felt tears come down his face. "...I...I-m ...s-sorry...Cho-r-rizo..." he breathed out. Chorizo shook his head continuously as he took off his serape and tried to wrap it around Edwardo's stomach, but it didn't help to stop the bleeding. Edwardo lifted one shaky, blood soaked hand up to Chorizo and gripped his arm._

 _"I-it's...t-too la-ate...I...I...don't...don't..." he said as he coughed and spat blood out of his mouth. Chorizo stopped, then squeezed his eyes shut and began to cry more. Edwardo stared up at Chorizo, gripping his arm. "Lis-sten to...me...Chorizo..." Edwardo said in faint breaths. Chorizo opened his wet eyes and stared down at his dying brother through the tears._

 _"...I w-will always...be there...w-with you...I...l-love y-you...h-hermano..." Then Edwardo went limp and died. Chorizo shook Edwardo's body gently. "E-Edwardo? Edwardo!" He cried, then he screamed and lowered his head down. His shoulders shook as the tears poured down his face from the loss of his brother. Chorizo hoped that it was all a bad dream, but the more he cried and felt the horrible gut twisting feeling inside him, the more it proved to him that it was all real._

 _Edwardo was dead..._

Chorizo dropped the gun and placed his hands over his face. He sobbed heavily as he fell to his knees. The memory was such a heavy impact on him. His tears fell into the dust. His shoulders trembled. Suddenly he felt a hand on one of them. He quickly looked up and felt his heart stop. Edwardo stood before him.

"Hey, _hermano_ ," Edwardo said smiling. Chorizo gasped as he stared up at his older brother. He looked exactly the way he did when he... Chorizo was now almost, if not as old as Edwardo himself. Chorizo continued staring at Edwardo. He gently and hesitantly reached up and touched Edwardo. He was there. He was really there. When Chorizo found this out, he broke down and wrapped his arms around his brother. Edwardo hugged him back. "Hey...hey...it's ok. What did I tell you about crying? Don't cry," Edwardo said. Chorizo hugged his brother harder.

After a couple minutes, Chorizo wiped his eyes. "How are you here?" he asked. Edwardo just smiled. Chorizo looked around. Everyone was frozen. Literally. They looked like they were stuck in time. White fog seemed to have entered the canyons. Chorizo got to his feet and continued to look around before looking back at his brother.

"...Am...Am I dead?" he asked. Edwardo looked over to Chorizo's frozen friends. "No...not yet," he said. Chorizo didn't understand. Edwardo turned back to his younger brother. "I see you have made some friends," he said. Chorizo looked over to Bill, Stump, and Kinski. "Si," he said. Edwardo nodded, then looked over to Isabella and her son, then Tagless. He was silent for a long time. Chorizo stared at his brother. He couldn't believe it. He had no idea what was going on. Did he go unconscious? Did he really die?"

"Edwardo?" he asked. Edwardo turned to Chorizo. "Isabella needs you," he said. Chorizo sighed. "She doesn't care for me. She hates me..." Chorizo said. Edwardo shook his head. "I've been watching you guys. She loves you. She really does...You, her, and Nico. You three need each other."

Chorizo felt tears come to eyes again. He shook his head. "No...no. I need you, Ed." Edwardo smiled his small smile and ruffled Chorizo's hair. "I know...but your younger siblings need you more. You are the older brother now, hermano," he said. Tears came down Chorizo's face. He hugged his older brother once more.

"Please don't go...It was all my fault...I'm so sorry." he said. Chorizo felt Edwardo hug him tighter. "It's not your fault, Chorizo. Stop saying that...and I'm not going anywhere...I'll always be with you...Always," he said. Chorizo sobbed and buried his face in Edwardo's shirt. "I love you, Edwardo," he said.

"I love you too...Chorizo..." Edwardo said...

 _Chorizo..._

 _Chorizo..._

 _Chorizo!_

Chorizo opened his eyes and found himself with the gun aimed right at Tagless. Everyone was unfrozen and staring at him, thought they didn't seem to know what had just happened. Nobody saw Edwardo. Tagless still held Isabella in his arms. Chorizo coughed. His whole body was sore, but his heart was still beating. He was still alive. Chorizo aimed his gun higher. He waited till he got a good shot.

"You forget...Tagless..." Chorizo said as Tagless glared back at him, moving his head just slightly out from behind Isabella. Chorizo smirked. He had his target. "I never miss..." Chorizo aimed his gun right at Tagless, and pulled the trigger.

 _Bang_!

Chorizo shot Tagless right between the eyes.

Tagless' body jolted backwards and fell to the ground. Isabella screamed a small scream in terror, quickly backing away from Tagless' lifeless body on the ground. Chorizo sneered and turned his bleeding face to the two remaining outlaws. The two outlaws who used to be part of Tagless' gang stared at the shrew with their mouths hanging open. Shocked and terrified. Chorizo glared at them with his red eyes just under the brim of his hat.

"I'll give you two a head start..." he told them in Spanish. The two didn't have to be told twice. They bolted. Chorizo aimed his gun and fired at the two outlaws. They died before they hit the ground. Isabella stood ten or so feet behind Chorizo. She stared at her brother from where she stood, hugging her son tightly. Chorizo didn't turn around to stare at her. His serape moved with the wind. He could feel her staring at her.

He slowly turned to his outlaw friends and silently untied them. They stayed silent as well as they stared at Chorizo in shock. They had never seen the shrew do anything like that before. Once everyone was untied, Bill clapped Chorizo on the shoulder.

"Bravo," he said.

Chorizo didn't answer. Instead, he coughed, heaving. He was badly beaten and bruised. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed. "Chorizo!" he heard everyone scream his name till the whole world went black...

...

Chorizo jolted awake, then regretted that action as he cried out loud in agonizing pain. He was bandaged up and laid with his serape thrown over him. He looked around and found that he was back in the small room Dante, Isabella and himself shared when he was a good citizen. He coughed and and breathed, but it hurt to do so. Suddenly, Isabella appeared with a bowl of water and a washcloth. She sat down at Chorizo's side and placed the wet washcloth on his forehead.

"You're awake. I'm relieved."

Chorizo blinked. "Wh...what are you doing here?" he asked. Isabella blinked and cocked her head. "What do you mean?" she asked in Spanish. Chorizo had no idea either. He closed his eyes. He heard Isabella speak.

"Its been almost two whole days since you've been out. I was worried that you died...your...friends helped carry you here. I told them to." Chorizo smirked and wondered how that conversation went down. Isabella continued.

"Since you went unconscious, you started talking. Mumbling random things..." she said. Chorizo narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but continued to keep his eyes closed. Isabella was quiet for a moment before adding something else.

"You kept saying Edwardo's name," she said, causing Chorizo's eyes to snap open. He quickly sat up in bed and stared at Isabella. His younger sister caught the wet washcloth and placed it back in the bowl. She stared down at it. The two were quiet for a couple seconds.

"What did I say?" he asked. Isabella turned to him. "You kept saying his name...asking for him. You wanted to see him," she said. Chorizo stared at his sister. He was stunned. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her that he got to see Edwardo...but she might think he had lost it.

He slowly laid back down at stared up at the ceiling. He felt tears come to his eyes. Then he heard Isabella crying. His mustard colored eyes turned upward to her. She was crying in her hand. He sat upright again and offered her an awkward one armed hug, but she quickly got up and left the room before he could do so...

...

The days passed and Chorizo was somewhat better. He was still in pain. Physically and mentally. Over and over he thought of that weird encounter with Edwardo. He missed him so much. Then he thought of Isabella. She was most likely wanting to leave town by now. Most likely for the best, but where would they go? they had no money. Chorizo didn't like the idea of his sister and his nephew out in the streets in a different town far away from him. He knew that she was afraid, and that the further away she was from him, the better, he couldn't stand the idea of her getting in another situation like that again. But...at the same time, he didn't want her to leave. He couldn't help but to think what Edwardo told him during that weird supernatural moment as he got ready.

Chorizo tied his serape around him and adjusted his hat on his head. He sighed as he stared at himself in the mirror. Isabella and Dante had already gone downstairs to find a way to get breakfast.

Just then he heard a noise.

Chorizo quickly whipped around and held his gun. Bill, Stump and Kinski stood at the doorway before him. Chorizo blinked in surprise seeing them in the doorway. "...You know it's not a good idea to barge in someone's place," he said. Bill gave him a look. "Who do you think we are? Gentlemen?" he threw back. Kinski snickered. Stump snorted. "We're outlaws...though, have to say, it ain't good to also sneak up on an outlaw," he added.

Chorizo waited after Bill gave him a glare before asking the question. "What are you all doing here?" he asked.

Bill placed a thick stack of money on the table. Chorizo looked down at it. "What's this?" He asked. Stump and Kinski stood on either side of Bill. Bill shrugged his shoulders "It's whatever you want it to be," he said. Chorizo stared at the money for a moment, then lifted his head up. "...I don't know if she'll accept it..." he said. Kinski and Stump lowered their heads in sadness. Bill continued to stare back at Chorizo. "Has she ever accepted anything from you?" Bill asked. Chorizo thought for a moment before finally shaking his head.

"...No..." he finally said.

Bill nodded. He turned to his rabbit men and silently made a signal to leave. Kinski and Stump obediently left. Bill tapped the money again. "Your choice...I ain't gonna force you...but you are a good member to have in the gang. You were the first, remember?" Bill asked. Chorizo silently nodded. He did remember. So far, this was his home, his life. Being a member of Bad Bill's gang. He liked it so far. There were ups and downs, but what life didn't have ups and downs?

Bill turned and started to head for the door. He stopped at the door frame and paused for a moment. "Whatever choice you make, it'll be the right one," he added before leaving Chorizo alone in the room with the stack of money on the table...

...

When Isabella and Dante came back, Isabella decided to tell him something. "We have decided to leave town," Isabella said. Chorizo felt his heart sink. "Leave?" he asked. Isabella nodded, holding her son's hand. "Nothing against you, but...we feel that it would be safer." Chorizo nodded. he understood. He didn't blame her.

"How you gonna make money?" he asked. Isabella picked up a newspaper and showed him the wanted ads. In a couple towns over, there was a restaurant that needed a waitress. "I feel that I could make some money as a waitress," she said. Chorizo nodded. He held the stack of money behind his back. He was really nervous. Isabella could see that he was.

"Chorizo?" she asked.

Without saying anything, Chorizo silently handed his sister the stack of money. She stared at it hesitantly in her hand. He kept his eyes down as he spoke in Spanish to her. "I'm sorry, Isabella...I'm sorry you got mixed up in something from my past..." he said. Isabella stayed quiet as he continued talking, spilling out everything and how he felt. "I...I didn't choose the outlaw life...it just... happened..." Chorizo said. "I can't change who I am...this was what I was supposed to become...I'm happy where I am now. I know its the wrong way to go...but it's the only thing that accepts me..." he said.

Isabella stared up at her older brother. She pursed her lips and looked down at Dante. Dante stared up at his mom, then at his uncle. Finally, he let go of his mom's hand, walked up to Chorizo, and hugged him. Chorizo stared down at Dante in surprise. Isabella stared at her son in surprise as well, but didn't say anything. Dante spoke instead.

"I accept you, uncle Chorizo," he said. Chorizo felt tears come to his eyes. Just as he was turning his head up to his sister, Isabella came up to Chorizo and hugged him as well. Chorizo's eyes widened even more at the sudden, unexpected action.

"I accept you too, _hermano_..." she said. Chorizo trembled where he stood. Gradually he wrapped his arms around them. Tears came down his face. He hugged them both tightly.

...

It was two hours before they arrived at the town of Grime. The neighboring town that had a train station. The town Isabella wanted to hopefully get the waitress job was in the next town over, but it was a bit further away. The three dismounted the wagon they were borrowing from Bill. Chorizo patted the javelina on the neck before following his sister and nephew into the town.

The town was a little bigger than Dirt, but more, grimy looking, hence the name. Chorizo was somewhat familiar with the town. The townspeople stared at Chorizo as he walked down the street towards the train station. Isabella asked for information about the next town over and when the next possible time was for the train to arrive and take them to the town.

The old desert squirrel working the ticket booth told her the train was to be coming in fifteen minutes. Isabella thanked him and paid for her and her son's ticket with some of the money Chorizo gave her. The three sat down at the bench of the train station under an awning and waited.

As they waited, Chorizo pulled out his slingshot and handed it to Dante. "This is for you, Dante. This was your Uncle Edwardo's and mine. Take good care of it for me, ok?" he asked his nephew. Dante gasped in surprise as he took the slingshot from his uncle. He stretched the pouch back. Chorizo showed him how to use it.

They got up from the bench and went down to the other side of the station. He placed a rock in the pouch, stretched it back, then released it, hitting a metal can that was still on one of the wooden fences by the local town kids. Dante gasped in excitement and showed his mother. Isabella gave him a worried smile, but didn't seem that concerned. She knew how much the slingshot meant to Chorizo.

" _Gracias_ , Uncle Chorizo," Dante said happily as he tried hitting the cans on the wooden fence with his new weapon.

Just then, they heard the train whistle. The train was coming into the town. Isabella gently pushed him back towards the train station. "Come along, Dante, we don't want the train leaving without us," she said. Chorizo felt his heart hurt when she said that. He didn't want them to leave. He followed them back up the steps to the train platform. The train slowed to a stop and opened its doors. animals of all species, wearing different clothes came pouring out from the train. Once it was cleared, the train conductor, a scruffy dog, called out "All aboard!"

Isabella and Dante faced Chorizo.

"Well...this is it..." Isabella said. She hesitated for a minute before answering. "...Papa would have been so proud of you," she said. Chorizo was taken back by her words. With that, Isabella hugged her brother. Chorizo hugged her back tightly. He felt tears come to his eyes. He quickly wiped them away when Isabella stopped hugging him. Then he went down on one knee for his nephew to hug him.

"Goodbye, Dante, I'm glad I got to meet you," he said. Dante hugged Chorizo's neck. "I'm glad I did too. I hope to see you again soon...and thank you for the slingshot," he said. Chorizo smiled and nodded, releasing him. "Take good care of it ok?" he asked. Dante nodded. "I'll take good care of Edwardo," he said. Chorizo felt his heart skip a beat. "Edwardo?" he asked. Dante lifted the slingshot. "I named it Edwardo," he said. Chorizo stared in surprise at his nephew before turning his mouth upward into a happy smile and ruffling his hair.

"Keep practicing with it...I'm sure you'll get real good...and never miss," he told Dante. Dante beamed with pure happiness and excitement. Then Dante ran back to his mom. Chorizo got back to his feet, though it hurt in the process. Chorizo stared at the two.

"I'll always be there for you two. No matter what," he told them. Isabella and Dante smiled. " _Muchas gracias_ , Chorizo," Isabella said. With that, the two boarded the train. Chorizo waved goodbye to them. They waved back. Chorizo felt tears come to his eyes. He smiled and wiped them away as he continued waving.

The train whistle blew and the train began to jolt forward. The train moved forward then got into the rhythm and began to move. Isabella and Dante waved back to Chorizo. The train got smaller and smaller till it was just a small black line across the horizon. Chorizo stopped waving and sighed. A small smile formed on his face. With that, he got back into the wagon and rode back to the town of Dirt, back to the Abandoned Mines. His home...

...

* * *

...

 **A/N: Sorry that this one was a bit of a long one. I really enjoyed writing this one. I don't know why, but Chorizo's story was always much more interesting and amazingly developed. I really loved Chorizo and Edwardo's connection and the hardships they went through together, thus developing the character I made Chorizo into. He was my first outlaw story I wrote for because I thought I was gonna get his done fast in fifteen chapters. 37 or so chapters later I'm crying and going through this insane roller coaster with the shrew. I never thought I would be so emotionally connected to it, especially with Edwardo. He was one of my original characters I had to kill off and I cried. I cried even writing this part. I have never cried to a character I created, only to end his life. It was so emotional for me. It was an amazing experience, and I am happy to go back to it and write another short continuation for it. I hope you enjoyed it too.**

 **Characters: Isabella, Dante (Isabella's son), Tyrone/Tagless, Tagless' men: Domingo, Cuchillo, Cortez, Chico, and Manny**


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